Literature Department, Free Library of Philadelphia

10/09/2025

Hello Lit Department Community!

The Literature Department is proud to partner with local Philadelphia film journal, "Movie Jawn," on our first Movie Jawn Film Night, where we will show 1949 noir-mystery-horror film, "Alias Nick Beal" starring Ray Milland.

Event starts at 5:30 pm, Tuesday October 14 in rm. 108, on the first floor of the Parkway Central Building.

The Free Librarys Literature Department is proud to partner with Movie Jawn for the screening of the 1949 noir-mystery-horror film,

05/16/2025

Monday Poets Season 30 Chapbook is available free online!

The Literature Department's Monday Poets series is the longest-running program for adults at the library, connecting poets and community members across Philadelphia.

04/23/2025

Join us for a great evening of poetry! Parkway Central Library, Skyline Room, 4th Floor, 5:45! It should be a great night!

04/12/2025

Please mark your calendars and join us for the final event of our historic 30th season! The event begins at 6pm and is located in the Skyline Room of the 4th floor of the Parkway Central location at 1901 Vine Street. We hope to see you there!

12/18/2024

If you can crochet or knit- we need you!

Join us in the Art Lit department on Saturday, as we knit and crochet all day for a good cause! Drop in anytime to make scarves and hats for the Free Library Social Workers to donate to those in need. We will provide simple patterns, knitting needles, crochet hooks, and some yarn. Youre welcome to b...

11/08/2024

Join us next Thursday, 11/14 at 6pm for Podcasting 101!

The hosts of Well There's Your Problem will present on everything you need to start your very own podcast, from finding and refining your niche, to equipment and editing.

The workshop will take place in the Literature Department at Parkway Central Library. This event is free and open to the public, no registration required.

10/28/2024

Join us this Saturday, November 2nd at 2pm for another Novels in Progress, featuring Chandler Myer and Maya Afilalo. Presented in partnership with and , Novels in Progress is a salon style reading and conversation series with authors working on long form fiction. The event will take place at Parkway Central Library, Room 108 and is free and open to the public. We hope to see you there!

10/03/2024

Want to improve your Spanish speaking skills? Join us online! Register for free here

Thursdays 1-2:30 pm (September 19 - December 5, 2024) Build your confidence in speaking Spanish while meeting other adults in a casual learning environment. For high-intermediate/advanced speakers. This group is led by Free Library volunteers Fernando and Geoff. Sign up for the interest list here: h...

09/04/2024

Monday Poets 30th Anniversary Season: Michele Belluomini and Raina J. León
Mon, September 16, 2024 6:00 P.M.
Skyline Room at Parkway Central Library

Join the Free Library of Philadelphia’s Literature Department in celebrating the 30th Anniversary season of Monday Poets. This year’s theme is Sankofa (SAHN-koh-fah), a Twi word from the Akan Tribe of Ghana which loosely implies that to move forward, one must “go back and get it”. In that spirit we will be celebrating at each event a past Monday Poet and introduce a new one. Each month from September 2024 to April 2025 a new Sankofa pair will read at a new library. Monday Poets exists to inspire and connect poets and community members across the city of Philadelphia.

This program will take place in the Skyline Room on the 4th Floor of Parkway Central and is free and open to the public. The event will be led by Philadelphia's current Poet Laureate, Kai Davis

Previous Monday Poet: Michele Belluomini

Michele Belluomini’s poetry has been published in many print and online journals, and in various anthologies. Her chapbook, Crazy Mary & Others was a winner in the first Plan B Press competition. Her most recent volume of poetry is Signposts for Sleep Walkers. She was one of the winners of the 12th Annual John and Rose Petracca & Family Award for her poem, "La Befana." She works as Adjunct Library Faculty at Community College of Philadelphia.

New Monday Poet: Raina J. León

Raina J. León, PhD is Black, Afro-Boricua, and from Philadelphia (Lenni Lenape ancestral lands). She is the author of black god mother this body, Canticle of Idols, Boogeyman Dawn,sombra : (dis)locate, and the chapbooks, profeta without refuge and Areyto to Atabey: Essays on the Mother(ing) Self. She is a founding editor of The Acentos Review, an online quarterly, international journal devoted to the promotion and publication of Latinx arts. She currently supports poets and writers as faculty at the Stonecoast MFA at the University of Southern Maine.

08/27/2024

Join the Literature Department in celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Monday Poets! Mark you calendars with dates, times and locations for this upcoming season. Visit our website for more information

Monday Poets exists to inspire and connect poets and community members across Philadelphia. The 30th Anniversary Season schedule and locations are as follows:

September 16 at 6:00 p.m. at Parkway Central Library → featuring Michele A. Belluomini and Raina J. León with Kai Davis

October 21 at 5:30 p.m. at Lucien E. Blackwell West Philadelphia Regional Library → featuring Vernita Hall and Lindo Jones

November 18 at 5:30 p.m. at Thomas F. Donatucci Sr. Library → featuring M. Nzadi Keita and Mabel Lee

December 16 at 5:30 p.m. at Northeast Regional Library → featuring Jeffrey Ethan Lee and Cydney Brown

January 27 at 4:00 p.m. at Widener Library → featuring Marissa Johnson-Valenzuela and Andrea Walls

February 24 at 5:30 p.m. Joseph E. Coleman Northwest Regional Library → featuring Trapeta B. Mayson and 王潇/Evan Wang

March 17 at 5:30 p.m. at Fishtown Community Library → featuring Mytili Jagannathan and Allison Whittenberg

April 21 at 6:00 p.m. at Parkway Central Library → featuring Lawrence Dugan and Gabriel Ramirez with Kai Davis

08/15/2024

New books are here and ready for you in the Literature Department! Be the first to check out new poetry, film, literary criticism and much more 📚

08/02/2024

Remembering James Baldwin on his birthday- add a title or two to your reading list today!