Tokyo Poetry Week
events &
updates
The next Tokyo Poetry Week(end) is
coming in October, 2026.
More details will follow.
In the meantime, check our blog.
About
TOKYO POETRY WEEK
Tokyo Poetry Week is a multi-day, multi-venue, multi-lingual poetry festival celebrating the city’s diverse literary and artistic communities. Tokyo Poetry Week poetry events inhabit intersections of genres and languages: Poets collaborate with butoh dancers and programers, translate each other, write poems paired with paintings and redefine the meaning of poetry.
Founder and director: Zoria Petkoska K. (editor-in-chief of the Tokyo Poetry Journal).
Supported and organized by Tokyo Poetry Journal and a team of volunteers and supporters.
Tokyo Poetry Week is a not for profit, volunteer event.
Latest posts and photos
Tokyo Poetry Week
April 2026 program
April 9-18
April 9: Poetry Night at Tokyo Art Tank - Part 1
1-on-1 poem review with the editors of Tokyo Poetry Journal
@ Gallery Conceal, Shibuya
18:00 Poem review session with Tokyo Poetry Journal editors
- prior sign-up only via this Google form, limited spaces
April 9: Part 2
Life as a Lyricist
@ Gallery Conceal, Shibuya
19:30 Reading and talk with Chris Mosdell, poet and lyricist for YMO
.jpg)
April 10: Tanka poetry night
@G2(Ginzan Coffee), Sangenjaya
Japanese tanka poets in translation: bilingual reading
18:00 doors open,
19:00 event starts
RSVP via this Google form
_j.jpg)
April 11: Poetry: Transformations
@ UltraSuperNew Kura, Shibuya
14:00 - Ekphrastic poetry workshop (free, sign up via this Google form.)
open to all:
15:00 - Multilingual poets: poetry reading and panel discussion about poetry as self-translation
Participants: Eric Margolis, Leo Elizabeth Takada, Kana Hozoji, Damiana De Gennaro, Aleksandra Priimak, Zoria Petkoska K., Yuki Tanaka.
+Coffee barista pop-up by ZigZag Coffee and cake pop-up by Beiroha
April 12: The Poem is a Moment, the Moment is a Poem
17:00
@ Sansakizaka Cafe, Yanaka Ginza
- visual haiku exhibition by Ana Jovanovska (open for the whole duration of Tokyo Poetry Week and until April 24)
- haiku, haibun and poetic miniatures reading
April 16:
Poems. Theater. Butoh.
@ HVEN, Nakameguro
19:00 doors opens
Performances after 20:00
- slam poetry, dance & butoh poetry performances
- butoh by VENA/KAVA duo
- poets: Joan Anderson, Frank Spignese, Addie Parico, Miki Yuuri, Okiraku, Duncan Whom, Jeffrey Eli Fenholt, Zoria Petkoska K.
- calligraphy exhibition by Simon Kalajdjiev
- visual poetry books showcase by Silje Ree, Yukiko Oka, Patrick Laffin, Mehdu Sucre and more...
April 18: Closing poetry party!
19:00 | @Good Heavens
come for an otsukaresama kanpai!
April 18: Mythologyzing Tokyo - creative writing workshop
Led by Joy Waller, co-founder of Moon Hotel Press, co-host of Drunk Poets See God, and editor at Tokyo Poetry Journal.
Explore and create the myths & symbols that make up your own personal version of the world's most intoxicating city.
Start: 16:30, a cafe near Shimokitazawa (you will receive details via email).
End: 18:30
(Please note that there will be a walking portion of the workshop.)
The workshop is free but please pay for your own drink at the venue.
Tokyo Poetry Week 2026 program
April 9: Poetry Night at Tokyo Art Tank
@ Gallery Conceal, Shibuya
- 18:00 Poem review session with Tokyo Poetry Journal editors
prior sign-up only, limited spaces
bring one poem printed out
- 19:30 Reading and talk with Chris Mosdell, poet and lyricist for YMO
April 10: Tanka poetry night
- Japanese tanka poets in translation: bilingual reading
18:00 doors open, 19:00 event starts
@G2(Ginzan Coffee), Sangenjaya
RSVP only - via this Google form
April 11: Poetry: Transformations
@ UltraSuperNew Kura, Shibuya
14:00 - Ekphrastic poetry workshop (free, sign up via this Google form)
15:00 - Multilingual poets: poetry reading and panel discussion about poetry as self-translation
Participants: Eric Margolis, Leo Elizabeth Takada, Kana Hozoji, Damiana DiGennaro, Aleksandra Priimak, Zoria Petkoska K., Yuki Tanaka.
+Coffee barista pop-up by ZigZag Coffee and cake pop-up by Beiroha
April 12: The Moment is a Poem, the Poem is a Moment
@ Sansakizaka Cafe, Yanaka Ginza
- visual haiku exhibition by Ana Jovanovska (open for the whole duration of Tokyo Poetry Week and until April 24)
- haiku, haibun and poetic miniatures reading (time TBA)
April 16: Poems. Theater. Butoh.
@ HVEN, Nakameguro
Doors open 19:00
- slam poetry, dance & butoh poetry performances
- calligraphy exhibition by Simon Kalajdjiev
- visual poetry books showcase
April 17: Partner event: Drunk Poets See God open mic
@ Bar GariGari, Ikenoue/Shimokitazawa
1000¥ entrance fee, includes a drink. Open mic sign-up is first come first served.
April 18: Final day
16:30 "Mythologyzing Tokyo" creative writing workshop with Joy Waller
Sign up here: https://forms.gle/ettuajE6fpaBx2jx9
*The workshop is free but you need to pay for your own drink at a cafe.
19:00 Otsukaresama party at Good Heavens pub, Shimokitazawa
...this schedule is subject to change. Please follow @tokyopoetryweek on Instagram for latest updates.
