Upcoming events and things to do in Asheville, NC. Below is a list of events for festivals, concerts, art exhibitions, group meetups and more.

Interested in adding an event to our calendar? Please click the green “Post Your Event” button below.

Saturday, April 15, 2023
Gatherings of Artists + Writers Coffee
Apr 15 @ 10:30 am – 12:00 pm
Tryon Fine Arts Center

TFAC invites all artists: painters, sculptors, writers, performers & more — to a casual weekly drop-in gathering on Saturday mornings at 9 AM to share your works in progress, alert others, and chat about art and what’s happening in your community.

The first weekly Coffee is Saturday, August 20 at 9 am.

No RSVP needed, just drop by!

Free parking available on Melrose Avenue, behind and alongside TFAC.

Tuesday, April 18, 2023
AVL Writers: Next Critique
Apr 18 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Odd's Cafe

As per usual, please bring a piece you can read in 10 minutes, support our wonderful venue, and if you want to simply listen/observe/sit in, that’s fine too!

Please DM me if you would like to be added to the email listserv that keeps us all in the loop.

Dark City Poet’s Society
Apr 18 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Black Mountain Library

Great news for poets and poetry lovers: Dark City Poet’s Society is returning to the Black Mountain Library. DCPS is a completely free poetry group that is open to poets of all ages and experience levels. Join us at the Black Mountain Library from 6-7:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month for our (respectful) critique group. DCPS will meet at BAD Craft from 6-7 p.m. on the third Tuesday for our monthly open mic Poetry Night. Find out more on Instagram @darkcitypoetssociety or contact the Black Mountain Library.

Thursday, April 20, 2023
Common Word Community Read: “Being, Researching, Writing About, and Advocating for Dr. Gilmer” w/ Wiley Cash + Benjamin Gilmer
Apr 20 @ 7:00 pm
UNC Asheville’s Reuter Center in the Manheimer Room.

Join New York Times Bestselling author and UNC Asheville alumnus, Wiley Cash ’00 in conversation with author Benjamin Gilmer on Thursday, April 20 at 7 p.m. at UNC Asheville’s Reuter Center in the Manheimer Room.

This event is part of the Common Word Community Read, curated by Cash. The program brings the UNC Asheville community together to engage in a collective educational experience. Each semester, one book will serve as the focus of numerous virtual and in-person lectures and discussions that will allow participants to delve deeper into the text. Over the course of the academic year, participants will read one book each semester, gaining insights and sharing ideas in a welcoming and respectful environment. Spring 2023’s selection is The Other Dr. Gilmer: Two Men, a Murder, and an Unlikely Fight for Justice.

Saturday, April 22, 2023
Gatherings of Artists + Writers Coffee
Apr 22 @ 10:30 am – 12:00 pm
Tryon Fine Arts Center

TFAC invites all artists: painters, sculptors, writers, performers & more — to a casual weekly drop-in gathering on Saturday mornings at 9 AM to share your works in progress, alert others, and chat about art and what’s happening in your community.

The first weekly Coffee is Saturday, August 20 at 9 am.

No RSVP needed, just drop by!

Free parking available on Melrose Avenue, behind and alongside TFAC.

Monday, April 24, 2023
THE MOTH Presents: Asheville StorySLAM – “Clean”
Apr 24 @ 7:30 pm
The Grey Eagle

– PARTIALLY SEATED SHOW
– GA SEATING IN FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED. 

THE MOTH resumes their recurring monthly Asheville StorySLAM at The Grey Eagle at 7:30pm! This month’s theme is….


CLEAN:  
Prepare a five-minute story about spotlessness. Leaving your vices behind, purity through virtue, or coming out unscathed. Germaphobes or slobs. Colossal messes or confessions. The tidy and the untainted. Mr. Clean in the house!

Public Onsale Begins:

Monday, April 3, 2023 3:00 PM

Tuesday, April 25, 2023
Dark City Poet’s Society
Apr 25 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Black Mountain Library

Great news for poets and poetry lovers: Dark City Poet’s Society is returning to the Black Mountain Library. DCPS is a completely free poetry group that is open to poets of all ages and experience levels. Join us at the Black Mountain Library from 6-7:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month for our (respectful) critique group. DCPS will meet at BAD Craft from 6-7 p.m. on the third Tuesday for our monthly open mic Poetry Night. Find out more on Instagram @darkcitypoetssociety or contact the Black Mountain Library.

Thursday, April 27, 2023
Creative Writing Workshop: EcoFiction
Apr 27 @ 11:30 am – 12:30 pm
Fairview Library

In this series, we will write about encounters with the natural world through workshops in poetry, fiction, and autobiography. Drawing from the experiences you bring to class, and using a naturalist’s eye for observation and detail, you will capture encounters with vast mountain ranges and lush forests, garden insects and backyard bears, moon phases and songbird migrations. We will read example texts and practice writing prompts to deepen our relationship with nonhuman nature. We will also discuss how “eco” writing supports climate activism, environmental justice, conservation, and related issues.”

Spring creative writing workshops with Fairview author and teacher, Dr. Beth Keefauver, will be offered the last Thursdays of March, April and May.  The classes may be taken individually or as a series. The April class will focus on Eco Fiction.

Registration is required for these classes.  For more information call 828-250-6484.

This class is sponsored in part by the Friends of Fairview Library.

West Asheville Library Book Discussion–in person. Bring a poem to share. 
Apr 27 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
West Asheville Public Library
  In celebration of National Poetry Month, bring a poem that you have liked, and share with the group. Please email [email protected] if you have questions!
Friday, April 28, 2023
THE DEAD POETS WITH GLENIS REDMOND AND ALLAN WOLF
Apr 28 @ 7:30 pm
Genevieve's

Experience poetry unlike you’ve heard before with this collective of performance poets. The Dead Poets take center stage resurrecting classic words of the likes of Shakespeare, Hughes and Frost with expert musicianship and whit. Then be swept by the literary prowess of Redmond and entertained by Wolf.

Each with their own performance style and acclaimed in their own right,  have spent nearly 30 years performing regionally and nationally, educating through the power of verse.

Saturday, April 29, 2023
Gatherings of Artists + Writers Coffee
Apr 29 @ 10:30 am – 12:00 pm
Tryon Fine Arts Center

TFAC invites all artists: painters, sculptors, writers, performers & more — to a casual weekly drop-in gathering on Saturday mornings at 9 AM to share your works in progress, alert others, and chat about art and what’s happening in your community.

The first weekly Coffee is Saturday, August 20 at 9 am.

No RSVP needed, just drop by!

Free parking available on Melrose Avenue, behind and alongside TFAC.

Tuesday, May 2, 2023
Dark City Poet’s Society
May 2 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Black Mountain Library

Great news for poets and poetry lovers: Dark City Poet’s Society is returning to the Black Mountain Library. DCPS is a completely free poetry group that is open to poets of all ages and experience levels. Join us at the Black Mountain Library from 6-7:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month for our (respectful) critique group. DCPS will meet at BAD Craft from 6-7 p.m. on the third Tuesday for our monthly open mic Poetry Night. Find out more on Instagram @darkcitypoetssociety or contact the Black Mountain Library.

Saturday, May 6, 2023
Gatherings of Artists + Writers Coffee
May 6 @ 10:30 am – 12:00 pm
Tryon Fine Arts Center

TFAC invites all artists: painters, sculptors, writers, performers & more — to a casual weekly drop-in gathering on Saturday mornings at 9 AM to share your works in progress, alert others, and chat about art and what’s happening in your community.

The first weekly Coffee is Saturday, August 20 at 9 am.

No RSVP needed, just drop by!

Free parking available on Melrose Avenue, behind and alongside TFAC.

Tuesday, May 9, 2023
Dark City Poet’s Society
May 9 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Black Mountain Library

Great news for poets and poetry lovers: Dark City Poet’s Society is returning to the Black Mountain Library. DCPS is a completely free poetry group that is open to poets of all ages and experience levels. Join us at the Black Mountain Library from 6-7:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month for our (respectful) critique group. DCPS will meet at BAD Craft from 6-7 p.m. on the third Tuesday for our monthly open mic Poetry Night. Find out more on Instagram @darkcitypoetssociety or contact the Black Mountain Library.

Saturday, May 13, 2023
Gatherings of Artists + Writers Coffee
May 13 @ 10:30 am – 12:00 pm
Tryon Fine Arts Center

TFAC invites all artists: painters, sculptors, writers, performers & more — to a casual weekly drop-in gathering on Saturday mornings at 9 AM to share your works in progress, alert others, and chat about art and what’s happening in your community.

The first weekly Coffee is Saturday, August 20 at 9 am.

No RSVP needed, just drop by!

Free parking available on Melrose Avenue, behind and alongside TFAC.

Monday, May 15, 2023
THE MOTH PRESENTS: ASHEVILLE STORYSLAM – “GOSSIP”
May 15 @ 7:30 pm
The Grey Eagle

– PARTIALLY SEATED SHOW
– GA SEATING IN FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED. 

THE MOTH resumes their recurring monthly Asheville StorySLAM at The Grey Eagle at 7:30pm! This month’s theme is….


GOSSIP:  Delicious or malicious, chatty or bratty. Blatantly false or modestly exaggerated. Prepare a five-minute story about a rumor that raised eyebrows, dropped jaws, lowered the boom, rattled your cage or earned you a nasty or fabulous rep. In the office, the aisles of church or temple, in the family or in the streets. Tell us stories of the unfounded, the un-fact checked and the fabulously fabricated. Did you hear?

 

Tuesday, May 16, 2023
Dark City Poet’s Society
May 16 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Black Mountain Library

Great news for poets and poetry lovers: Dark City Poet’s Society is returning to the Black Mountain Library. DCPS is a completely free poetry group that is open to poets of all ages and experience levels. Join us at the Black Mountain Library from 6-7:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month for our (respectful) critique group. DCPS will meet at BAD Craft from 6-7 p.m. on the third Tuesday for our monthly open mic Poetry Night. Find out more on Instagram @darkcitypoetssociety or contact the Black Mountain Library.

Old Buncombe County Genealogical Society Writers Group
May 16 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
online

Old Buncombe County Genealogical Society Writers Group: 6:30-8 p.m. via Zoom. Email [email protected] for connection details if you want to join the meeting.

Saturday, May 20, 2023
Gatherings of Artists + Writers Coffee
May 20 @ 10:30 am – 12:00 pm
Tryon Fine Arts Center

TFAC invites all artists: painters, sculptors, writers, performers & more — to a casual weekly drop-in gathering on Saturday mornings at 9 AM to share your works in progress, alert others, and chat about art and what’s happening in your community.

The first weekly Coffee is Saturday, August 20 at 9 am.

No RSVP needed, just drop by!

Free parking available on Melrose Avenue, behind and alongside TFAC.

Sunday, May 21, 2023
Looking Glass Rock Writers Conference
May 21 all-day
Brevard College--Porter Center

 May 18-21. Nationally renowned writers give public readings of their work and lead workshops in fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Begins at 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, May 23, 2023
Dark City Poet’s Society
May 23 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Black Mountain Library

Great news for poets and poetry lovers: Dark City Poet’s Society is returning to the Black Mountain Library. DCPS is a completely free poetry group that is open to poets of all ages and experience levels. Join us at the Black Mountain Library from 6-7:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month for our (respectful) critique group. DCPS will meet at BAD Craft from 6-7 p.m. on the third Tuesday for our monthly open mic Poetry Night. Find out more on Instagram @darkcitypoetssociety or contact the Black Mountain Library.

Wednesday, May 24, 2023
Tom Tenbrunsel Virtual Writers Workshop: Poetry on my Mind
May 24 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
online w/ Carl Sandburg Home

You will find Tom Tenbrunsel a delightfully refreshing poet with a wide variety of subject matter and a style somewhere between Sandburg, Frost and the late Appalachian poet James Wright. Tom challenges one’s whit with a refreshing array of non-conforming rhyme, structure, rhythm and oft made-up words and hidden meanings. Uniquely Tom includes a photo and Author’s Notes with each poem. Join us in May to engage the spirit and myth of poetry with Tom’s “Poetry on my Mind”

Casual Poetry/Poetry on my Mind. Tom will read a couple poems for fun. He will ask guests to write a
short poem from a prompt with feedback from the group. Tom would like guests to feel free to bring short
poems to read and discuss. He encourages questions about writing poetry, about a poem of his or his
journey as a poet or his Self Help Series. So familiarize yourself with his works by scanning his website,
tenbrunsel.com Comments or questions are welcomed. Or feel free to email him in advance at
[email protected].  Check out his website tenbrunsel.com before the workshop. Send in one of your
poems to be commented on by Tom.

This workshop is open to writers of all skill levels and is a fun way to find inspiration from a new prompt or revise current work. It is hosted by the Friends of Carl Sandburg at Connemara and will use Microsoft Teams for the virtual connection. Sign up to attend the workshop here!

A writer and a poet, Dr. Tenbrunsel enjoyed a long successful career in Clinical Psychology. Born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, Tom graduated from Bellarmine University, obtained his doctorate from St Louis University in 1969. He taught, published and was in administration at Michigan State University and was VP for Advancement at the University of Alabama at Huntsville. He and his wife reside in the Appalachians of Western North Carolina. They have three successful children and eight grand grandchildren. Dr T. enjoys photography, gardening, cycling, hiking, camping and stalking the elusive trout. His writings and publications speak for themselves. He has published numerous books including:  Casual Gardening,  Poetry on My Mind, The Fund Raising Resource Manual,  The Fund Raising Handbook, Fund-Raising and Grantsmanship:  Getting Money from the Community for the Community, The Lansing Area Doctors Directory, 1&2,   Dissertation “A Group Coupon Economy Program in Treating Mental Illness:  An Experiment in Social Innovation”,   A Wrinkle in My Time: My Memoirs (a work in progress)

Saturday, May 27, 2023
Gatherings of Artists + Writers Coffee
May 27 @ 10:30 am – 12:00 pm
Tryon Fine Arts Center

TFAC invites all artists: painters, sculptors, writers, performers & more — to a casual weekly drop-in gathering on Saturday mornings at 9 AM to share your works in progress, alert others, and chat about art and what’s happening in your community.

The first weekly Coffee is Saturday, August 20 at 9 am.

No RSVP needed, just drop by!

Free parking available on Melrose Avenue, behind and alongside TFAC.

Tuesday, May 30, 2023
Dark City Poet’s Society
May 30 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Black Mountain Library

Great news for poets and poetry lovers: Dark City Poet’s Society is returning to the Black Mountain Library. DCPS is a completely free poetry group that is open to poets of all ages and experience levels. Join us at the Black Mountain Library from 6-7:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month for our (respectful) critique group. DCPS will meet at BAD Craft from 6-7 p.m. on the third Tuesday for our monthly open mic Poetry Night. Find out more on Instagram @darkcitypoetssociety or contact the Black Mountain Library.

Saturday, June 3, 2023
Gatherings of Artists + Writers Coffee
Jun 3 @ 10:30 am – 12:00 pm
Tryon Fine Arts Center

TFAC invites all artists: painters, sculptors, writers, performers & more — to a casual weekly drop-in gathering on Saturday mornings at 9 AM to share your works in progress, alert others, and chat about art and what’s happening in your community.

The first weekly Coffee is Saturday, August 20 at 9 am.

No RSVP needed, just drop by!

Free parking available on Melrose Avenue, behind and alongside TFAC.

Tuesday, June 6, 2023
Dark City Poet’s Society
Jun 6 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Black Mountain Library

Great news for poets and poetry lovers: Dark City Poet’s Society is returning to the Black Mountain Library. DCPS is a completely free poetry group that is open to poets of all ages and experience levels. Join us at the Black Mountain Library from 6-7:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month for our (respectful) critique group. DCPS will meet at BAD Craft from 6-7 p.m. on the third Tuesday for our monthly open mic Poetry Night. Find out more on Instagram @darkcitypoetssociety or contact the Black Mountain Library.

Saturday, June 10, 2023
Gatherings of Artists + Writers Coffee
Jun 10 @ 10:30 am – 12:00 pm
Tryon Fine Arts Center

TFAC invites all artists: painters, sculptors, writers, performers & more — to a casual weekly drop-in gathering on Saturday mornings at 9 AM to share your works in progress, alert others, and chat about art and what’s happening in your community.

The first weekly Coffee is Saturday, August 20 at 9 am.

No RSVP needed, just drop by!

Free parking available on Melrose Avenue, behind and alongside TFAC.

Tuesday, June 13, 2023
Dark City Poet’s Society
Jun 13 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Black Mountain Library

Great news for poets and poetry lovers: Dark City Poet’s Society is returning to the Black Mountain Library. DCPS is a completely free poetry group that is open to poets of all ages and experience levels. Join us at the Black Mountain Library from 6-7:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month for our (respectful) critique group. DCPS will meet at BAD Craft from 6-7 p.m. on the third Tuesday for our monthly open mic Poetry Night. Find out more on Instagram @darkcitypoetssociety or contact the Black Mountain Library.

Thursday, June 15, 2023
Poetry Open Mic Hendo
Jun 15 @ 8:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Shakedown Lounge

Poetry Open Mic Hendo is the all-new sister event of Poetry Open Mic Asheville, the
longest-running open mic in Western North Carolina, this weekly event welcomes all people and all forms of creative expression at
Hendersonville’s only Kava lounge.

Friday, June 16, 2023
poetry + storytelling open mic night
Jun 16 @ 10:00 pm
The Magnetic Theatre

POETRY & STORYTELLING OPEN MIC NIGHT

Following a performance of Da Classroom Ain’t Enuf

Are you a poet or storyteller? We’d love to hear your work! Come out on Friday, June 16th, at 10pm, following the performance of Da Classroom Ain’t Enuf. We are offering up to 5 minute slots per person and you can sign up that night.

Don’t want to perform but would love to come watch? Please do! Audience tickets are pay what you can, first come, first serve. If you see the performance of Da Classroom Ain’t Enuf that night, you can stay for the Poetry Open Mic for free.

Come help us celebrate the uniquely human gifts of writing, performing and sharing this work in community!

Pay What You Can **Note: Attendees of the June 16th performance of Da Classroom Ain’t Enuf can stay for free!