Four Free Arts, Music & Literary community events in Truckee 9/10 - 9/13, 2026

Many poets and writers are participating in these events so go to the website links and posters attached for more details. So much opportunity to gather creatively and inspire each other for making and creating in our world. I hope to see you out and about!

Thursday 9/10 Tangled Roots Open Mic & Reading Series at Alibi Truckee 6-7:30 pm. 

• Join us for a community open mic for poetry, prose, and singersongwriters. Our featured reader opens the open mic with a special reading from her debut novel Whalespeak that was released just September 4th! Author Liz Collins of Nevada City.  https://www.facebook.com/events/2282670338937709/

 

Friday 10:30 am - Noon Truckee Library Moments for Memoirs. This writing workshop is open to all. 

• Truckee Library's beloved writer’s program, Moments for Memoirs, is back after a summer break! Join us in the Donner Room for a workshop and write about stories from your life.   Nevada County Poet Laureate Karen Terrey returns to lead these engaging memoir‑writing sessions, guiding participants in capturing meaningful memories through writing. We look forward to welcoming both new and returning writers!

Saturday 9/12 10 am - Noon Mountain Bounty Farm, Nevada City

Poetry reading and writing workshop with Ingrid Keriotis, Rooja Hoasessey, and Karen Terrey. Join us under the hundreds year old Oak at the top of the ridge! 

• Mountain Bounty Farm (map) Join Nevada County Poet Laureate Karen Terrey and poet Ingrid Keriotis for a morning of poetry at Mountain Bounty Farm. https://mountainbountyfarm.com/events/2025/poetryonpreserves

Sunday, 9/13 1-5 pm Glenshire Porchfest

• I’ll be performing poems along with many other poets and storytellers at the Glenshire Porchfest this Sunday! Over 18 bands, a plethora of poets and storytellers from all over our region, plus food trucks and face painting in Truckee's Glenshire neighborhood.  Free event full of local musicians, food, and wares. More info at glenshireporchfest.com

Glenshire Porchfest Sept 13 brings together music, poetry, creativity, and community

As Poet Laureate of Nevada County I get the opportunity to collaborate with so many different artists and organizations. A few months ago Brooke Chabot, a beloved Truckee musician and teacher reached out to me to help her line up poets to read on stage for her Glenshire Porchfest this September 13. 

 This fabulous neighborhood event takes place around the neighborhood porches of friends and neighbors in Glenshire, Truckee. Twelve porches, 12-14 bands, and numerous wild poets will perform throughout the afternoon 1-5 pm. A Sunday afternoon, music, community, face painting, Taco Truck, poetry, and even Truckee Community Theater!

The bands performing include: Winter Grain, Rogue, Steel Sparrows, Truckee Jazz Ensemble, Rubicon Gold, Gold Noir, Wild Ginger, Tyler Mathew Smith, Johnson Party, Dark Horse, Will Apothekar, and John and Claudia.  You've seen these bands at gigs around town, and now you get to hang out in neighborhood porches and share the music experience up close and personal.

 

We have diverse and amazing poets performing on each stage before the bands: Rooja Mohassessy, Ingrid Keriotis, Kim Bateman, Sara Priest, Rita Geil, Alexis Cota, Liz Collins, Kathy Nelson, Bishop Randall, Michaelyn Logue, and others. Our poets are coming from the Bay Area, Carson City, Reno, Nevada City, and Truckee! They are published and experienced open mic performers, poets and storytellers. Join us September 13 1-5 pm! You can find more details here on GlenshirePorchfest.com.

 

What is Porchfest?

Glenshire PorchFest is a free, grassroots music and arts festival where neighbors turn porches, lawns, and driveways into live performance spaces. Walk the neighborhood. Discover local musicians. Dance in the street. No tickets. No pressure. Just a really good afternoon together.

Why are we doing this?

Inspired by the magic of Glenshire—Halloween nights, winter luminaries, summer concerts—PorchFest is about bringing people together in the best way we know how: through music, creativity, and community. This is what makes our neighborhood feel like home.

 

 

New Collaboration with Truckee Tahoe Theater Company: Write a Ten Minute Play Workshops

·        In these fun workshops you will hone your skills in dialogue, conflict, setting, and character. No drama experience necessary. All levels of writers and ages are welcome! We’ll look at the use of props, how to create suspense with a ticking clock, and how to choose the “at rise” occasion in the drama. Learn how to manage pacing, create strong emotional impact, present vivid characters, develop compelling situations, show rather than tell, and present a question that drives your audience’s attention with tension or suspense. Get small group feedback on your writing. 

·    Even if you’ve never thought about writing a play, this workshop will help you sharpen writing skills for all genres of writing. You can use this fun two-hour workshop to explore the ah ha moment in your novel or story or memoir.

·       Sign up for one workshop or both. Additional one on one editor feedback is available. The workshop is available in person in my living room with tea and chocolate as well as online with Zoom. A recording will be available.

As a bonus, we’ll review the call for submissions by Truckee Tahoe Community Theater for the Ten Minute Play Festival May 15-17. This will be a fast-paced, exciting showcase of short plays that pack big stories into small time frames. Each piece offers a unique world—ranging from heartfelt drama to laugh-out-loud comedy—brought to life by talented local actors and directors.  The deadline for Ten Minute play submissions to the festival is April 1, 2026. This festival is an exciting opportunity for regional writers to see their plays selected and produced here in Truckee! 

• March 16 & 23

• Mondays, 6-8 pm 

• $48/$90 for both 

 

 

Find Inspiration and Creative Community at the Sierra Poetry Festival April 18, 2026

Ten years ago I sat with a group of poets and artists brainstorming a new literary festival to take place in Nevada County. Who knew back then how successful this event would be, how it would become a gathering opportunity for artists throughout the Bay Area, Lake Tahoe, and beyond, to build creative networks and find inspiration in the synergistic sharing. The Sierra Poetry Festival is one of my favorite events each year. And this year we celebrate our ten year anniversary with some special extras.

 

Sierra Poetry Festival is a project of Nevada County Arts Council. This year’s mainstage event will take place on April 18, 2026, at The Center for the Arts, in Grass Valley, CA, attended by some of our most exciting local, national, and international poets and performers. Our keynote presenters are Brenda Hillman and Robert Hass! Tickets are now available.

Part of the community appeal is the opportunity for local poets to perform an original poem on stage. This year we have two Open Mic Competitions, one in Truckee on March 12 and another in Grass Valley on April 16, that offer two winners each this opportunity. The Tangled Roots Open Mic at Alibi in downtown Truckee runs 6-7:30 pm on March 12. Join us to cheer on local poets and writers on stage. On April 16, head down to the Iron Door in the basement of the Holbrooke Hotel in Grass Valley at 5:30 pm for another Open Mic Competition opportunity. These two events are a blast - meet other writers and join a community.

March 21st is World Poetry Day, and more events continue through the month of April with the SPF Fringe, a month and more of FREE poetry events happening in locations across Nevada County.

 

Sierra Poetry Festival marks National Poetry Month from the rolling foothills of California’s Gold Country to the rugged High Sierra, bringing a rich literary community together to celebrate the spoken word and reach out to new audiences in fresh ways. Through Sierra Poetry Festival we also celebrate California Arts, Culture & Creativity Month and we draw attention to our two coveted California Cultural Districts.