—Sean Elias
Executive Director, The DC Arts Center
The
Poetry Series
Poetry alongside
criticism, scholarship & philosophy
“I’m proud to continue DCAC’s long-standing commitment to poetry by reviving the spirit of the iconic In Your Ear series—something I’ve hoped to bring back since I first joined the organization. This new chapter builds on that legacy with a series that offers not only powerful poetic work, but also space for criticism, scholarship, and philosophy.”
The
Poetry Series
Poetry alongside
criticism, scholarship & philosophy
I’m proud to continue DCAC’s long-standing commitment to poetry by reviving the spirit of the iconic In Your Ear series—something I’ve hoped to bring back since I first joined the organization. This new chapter builds on that legacy with a series that offers not only powerful poetic work, but also space for criticism, scholarship, and philosophy.
—
Sean Elias
Executive Director, The DC Arts Center
A gathering space for poetry and critical thought, where language meets the moment.
About The DC Arts Center’s Poetry Series
The DC Arts Center’s Poetry Series launched in 2025 to present poetry in conversation with criticism, scholarship, and philosophy. Building on the legacy of earlier programs like the In Your Ear Series, this new initiative continues DCAC’s decades-long commitment to the literary arts by providing a platform for rigorous, boundary-pushing work. More than a reading series, it’s a space for ideas—for language that challenges, interrogates, and connects. In an era where poetry often lives in isolation, this series brings it back into dialogue and shared community.
Curated by professional poets, the series is held monthly in DCAC’s black box theater, typically on a Sunday. Each hour-long event features two to three creative presentations and one critical/analytical presentation (philosophy, scholarship, history, or criticism). These readings and reflections bridge creative and critical practice and are followed by a happy hour at Roofers Union. Whether you're a longtime reader, creator, or simply poetry-curious, The DC Arts Center’s Poetry Series offers a thoughtful, welcoming entry point into the ongoing work of thinking through language together.
Sign of the Times
Curated by Eric Celarier
Featuring members of the 2024 Sparkplug Artists’ Collective
at The DC Arts Center
Mentwanb Easwaran,
Sparkplug Artists’ Collective 2024 Cohort
speaks on their piece.
Katie Macyshyn (Magician),
Sparkplug Artists’ Collective 2024 Cohort
speaks on their piece.
Call for Entries
The DC Arts Center’s Poetry Series is a monthly reading series that brings poets and critics to a live audience in a black box theater in Washington, D.C.’s Adams Morgan neighborhood. The Poetry Series features presenters ranging from Pulitzer Prize nominees to first-time readers. After each event, presenters and audience members are invited to a cocktail party in The DC Arts Center’s Main gallery.
The Poetry Series is currently soliciting applications for its Sunday, June 28, 2026, and Sunday, July 26, 2026 readings. Both events take place from 3:00 - 5:00 PM.
Application Requirements
Personal Information
Poetry samples and/or
Critical work/notes samples
Optional publication/reading history
$25 application fee*
Reading Dates
Sunday, June 28, 2026
Sunday, July 26, 2026
Selected participants will be assigned one date from those listed above at the discretion of the program manager as part of the curatorial process.
* Waived for Artist Members. To become an Artist Member, click here. Your application fee directly fuels the program and the artists in it. It supports a thoughtful, hands-on review process and makes it possible for every applicant to receive meaningful, individualized feedback—so even if you’re not selected, you leave with insight you can actually use.
Purchase Tickets
Seating is extremely limited. Admission is $10. Free for DCAC Artist Members.
Next at the Mic
Meet the voices shaping our next evening of poetry and thought!
Sunday, November 8, 2026
Program: 3:00–4:00 PM
Post-Reading Reception at Roofer’s Union: 4:00–5:00 PM
Who's better equipped than poet-translator Christopher Childers—the editor of an acclaimed Penguin collection of Greek and Latin verse—to deliver a mini-lecture on the Latin love elegy? And who better than Ernest Hilbert (author of Storm Swimmer and more) and Dora Malech (whose most recent book is Trying X Trying) to captivate us with their poetry? Join us for an afternoon of poetry and discourse, which continues over drinks directly afterward!
Chris Childers
Analytical Presentation
-
Christopher Childers is author of The Penguin Book of Greek and Latin Lyric Verse, a finalist for the London Hellenic Prize, and Bitters, winner of the 21st Anthony Hecht Prize, forthcoming in February 2027 from Waywiser Books. His work has appeared in The Kenyon Review, The Yale Review, Best American Poetry, and elsewhere. The holder of an MFA in poetry from the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins, he now lives in Los Angeles and teaches Latin.
Ernest Hilbert
Poetic Reading
-
Ernest Hilbert is the author of the poetry collections Sixty Sonnets, All of You on the Good Earth, Caligulan—selected as winner of the 2017 Poets’ Prize—and Last One Out. His fifth book, Storm Swimmer, was selected by Rowan Ricardo Phillips as the winner of the 2022 Vassar Miller Prize and appeared in 2023.
Dora Malech
Poetic Reading
-
Dora Malech's latest books of poems are Trying x Trying (2025) and Flourish (2020), both published by Carnegie Mellon University Press. She is the chair of the Writing Seminars department and editor in chief of The Hopkins Review at Johns Hopkins University, where she also serves as Senior Advisor to the Provost for the Arts.
Alumni & Past Sessions
2026
October 18
Julie Carr - Analytical Presentation
Josh Bell - Poetic Reading
September 27
Ned Balbo - Poetic Reading
Jonathan Daniel Fine - Analytical Presentation
Matthew Buckley Smith - Poetic Reading
August 30
Agata Ambrozewicz - Poetic Reading
Donald Berger - Poetic Reading
Ailish Hopper - Poetic Reading
July 26 / Summer Submission Selectees
Makalani Bandele - Poetic Reading
Michele Evans - Poetic Reading
Lesley Younge - Poetic Reading
Aldon Nielson - Poetic Reading
June 28 / Summer Submission Selectees
Lenna Jawdat - Poetic Reading
Mike Reis - Poetic Reading
J. D. Smith - Poetic Reading
Philip Wexler - Poetic Reading
May 31
James Sherry - Analytical Presentation
K. Lorraine Graham - Poetic Reading
Donald Illich - Poetic Reading
April 12
Vivaldo Santos - Analytical Presentation
Chris Nealon - Poetic Reading
Ricardo Domeneck - Poetic Reading
Chris Daniels - Translation
March 8
Mario Melo - Analytical Presentation
Kiki Petrosino - Poetic Reading
Kyle Dargan - Poetic Reading
February 8
Sunil Iyengar - Introductory Remarks
Mary Jo Salter - Poetic Reading
David Yezzi - Poetic Reading
January 18
Dora Malech - Analytical Presentation
Simon Schuchat - Poetic Reading
Dylan Carpenter - Poetic Reading
2025
December 14
Sylvia Jones - Analytical Presentation
Paul Killebrew - Poetic Reading
Cathy Eisenhower - Poetic Reading
November 23
Brian Teare - Analytical Presentation
Julie Carr - Poetic Reading
James Sherry - Poetic Reading
October 26
Keith D. Leonard, Analytical Presentation
Sylvia Jones, Poetic Reading
Chet’la Sebree, Poetic Reading
September 28
Christopher J. Scalia, Analytical Presentation
Morri Creech, Poetic Reading
Greg Williamson, Poetic Reading
August 24
Amanda Auerbach, Analytical Presentation
Leslie Bumstead, Poetic Reading
Sarah Katz, Poetic Reading
July 27
David Beaudouin, Poetic Reading
Tracy Dimond, Poetic Reading
Chris Mason, Moderator & Poetic Reading
Rupert Wondolowski, Poetic Reading
June 22
Buck Downs, Poetic Reading
Phyllis Rosenzweig, Poetic Reading
Rod Smith, Poetic Reading
May 16
Amanda Auerbach, Poetic Reading
Bailey Blumenstock, Poetic Reading
Professor Marianne Noble, Analytical Presentation
April 27
Joshua Weiner, Poetic Reading
David Yezzi, Poetic Reading
Micah Mattix, Analytical Presentation