Our Response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak

As a precaution to help limit the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) and care for our community, Just Buffalo Literary Center has postponed a number of events, and we will follow the guidance of Buffalo Public Schools in terms of Just Buffalo Writing Center programming.

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Our History: The 2000s

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40 Years of Buffalo History - 2000s - Just Buffalo Literary Center
The 2000s
The 2010s

Here are some Just Buffalo history highlights from the 2000s. Scroll down to move forward along the timeline.

Michael Burkard & Robert Tejada

Friday, February 18, 2000

A Reading Where: Cornershop, 82 Lafayette, Buffalo When: February 18, 2000 at 8:00 p.m.

David Foster Wallace

Friday, September 15, 2000

Reading and Discussion “Mr. Wallace only rarely (twice yearly) agrees to do public readings, so Buffalo is lucky to have him share his fiction and his unique and wildly perceptive essays, his acrobatic cartwheeling in language and his profound and often profoundly funny vision.” Where: Allen Hall, UB South Campus When: September 15, 2000 at 8:00 p.m.

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David Trinidad

Sunday, November 19, 2000

“Poet David Trinidad makes a rare Buffalo appearance to read from his newest book Plasticville and from his wise, observant work. Controversial, funny, and smart, his poetry, filtered through 60s movies, top 40 radio, the cult of Barbie, and suburban and urban angst… explore[s] the thousand forgotten longings anchored in the objects of childhood and what they mean to us as adults.” Where: Hallwalls Cinema, 2495 Main Street When: November 19, 2000 at 7:00 p.m.

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Alice Notley & Anselm Berrigan

Friday, December 8, 2000

A Reading Where: Allen Hall, UB South Campus Date: December 8, 2000 Time: 8:00 p.m.  

Lorca and Spanish Poetry: A Bilingual Reading

Wednesday, January 17, 2001

Featuring: Vincent O’Neill | Jorge Guitart | Olga Mendell | Javier Bustillos | Rosa Acala Where: Irish Classical Theatre When: January 17, 2001 at 7:00 p.m.

David Sedaris

Friday, March 30, 2001

Reading and Discussion of Me Talk Pretty One Day Where: Rockwell Hall, Buffalo State College When: March 30, 2001 at 8:00 p.m.

A Symphony Down in my soul: Annette Daniels Taylor

Saturday, June 1, 2002

“A celebration of music and words, songs, slavery and salvation, along with hymns, work songs, blues, gospel and jazz. All this is woven into, around and beside a collection of poems and stories by notable African-American writers and original work by poet Annette Daniels Taylor and others.” Where: Langston Hughes Center, 25 Hight St., Buffalo When: June 1, 2002 from 4:00-8:00 p.m.

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Benefit Reading with Carl Dennis & Thomas Centolella

Friday, June 14, 2002

Where: Nichols School Date: June 14, 2002 Time: 8:00 p.m.

Kimiko Hahn & EunGwi Chung

Thursday, September 19, 2002

Where: Hallways Contemporary Arts Center Date: September 19, 2002 Time: 7:30 p.m.

Sheila Heti

Sunday, October 20, 2002

Where: Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center Date: October 20, 2002 Time: 7:30 p.m.

Short Fuse Anthology: Reading and Book Signing

Saturday, November 2, 2002

Featuring: Sean Thomas Dougherty, Charles Bernstein, & many others Short Fuse Anthology is the first major global collection of poetry from the 21st century featuring the poets who are defining world literature and culture. The fusion poets define these complex times through new forms of performance and text by mixing the best of the oral and written traditions. Where: Talking Leaves Books, 951 Elmwood Ave When: November 6, 2002 at 7:00 p.m.  

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Livio Farallo

Friday, January 30, 2004

A Reading by Slipstream editors Livio Farallo (pictured), Robert Borgatti & Dan Sicoli Where: The Hibiscus Room, Just Buffalo, Tri-Main Building Date: January 30, 2004 Time: 8:00 p.m.

Stephen Rodefer

Friday, April 9, 2004

Poetry Reading and Slide Show Where: The Hibiscus Room at Just Buffalo, Tri-Main Center When: April 9, 2004 at 8:00 pm

Ed Roberson

Friday, April 23, 2004

A Reading and Conversation Where: The Hibiscus Room at Just Buffalo, Tre-Main Center When: April 23, 2004 at 8:00 pm

If all of Buffalo Read the Same Book: Arundhati Roy

Wednesday, September 8, 2004

The God of Small Things Reading and Q & A: September 8, 8pm, Unitarian Universalist Church “Meet and Greet” book signing: September 9, 12-2pm, Talking Leaves Bookstore Video Screening & Video/Text Installation: September 10, 8pm, Squeaky Wheel

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Ales Debeljak

Thursday, October 21, 2004

World of Voices Residency: October 21-27 2004 Ales Debeljak (1961-2016) built and melded together dual careers as poet and social theorist by absorbing and writing about the “shocks” the former Yugoslavia has suffered in the aftermath of its transition into individual nation-states. Virtually all of Debeljak’s work focused on examining and preserving through language what it means to be European, Central European, and Slovene in the face of what he called the “megalomaniac nationalism” associated with the breakup of Yugoslavia, the birth of the EU and the culture of globalization.

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Brendan Lorber & Sasha Steensen

Friday, November 12, 2004

A Poetry Reading and Book Release for Sasha Steensen’s A Magic Book Where: The Hibiscus Room at Just Buffalo, Tri-Main Center When: November 12, 2004 at 8:00 pm

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If All of Buffalo Read the Same Book: Paul Auster

Wednesday, October 5, 2005

‘If All of Buffalo Read the Same Book’ provides a common point of reference of a single book to inspire connections and conversations among the diverse residents of Western New York. The 2005 selection, The Invention of Solitude, is part elegy, part intellectual self-discovery, and part family tree. Paul Auster was in Buffalo on October 5 and 6, 2005 for readings and discussions of his work.

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BABEL: Orhan Pamuk

Saturday, November 10, 2007

BABEL: Ariel Dorfman

Friday, December 7, 2007

BABEL: Derek Walcott

Thursday, March 13, 2008

BABEL: Chinua Achebe

Friday, September 26, 2008

BABEL: Michael Ondaatje

Saturday, November 29, 2008

BABEL: Marjane Satrapi

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

BABEL: Isabel Allende

Friday, April 17, 2009

Big Night: Lee Ann Brown

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Featuring: Poetry: Lee Ann Brown | Food: Geoffrey Gatza | Music: Damian Weber | Artist Book in Process: Chris Fritton, Kevin Kegler Where: The WNY Book Arts Center When: September 19, 2009 at 8:00 p.m.

BABEL: A.S. Byatt

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Big Night: Eileen Myles

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Featuring: Poetry: Eileen Myles | Film: Ekrem Serdar | Food: Geoffrey Gatza Where: The WNY Book Arts Center When: October 24, 2009 at 8:00 p.m.

Big Night: Michael Rothenberg

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Featuring: Poetry: David Meltzer, Michael Rothenberg, Terri Carrion | Jazz: Other Side | Food: Geoffrey Gatza Where: The WNY Book Arts Center When: November 12, 2009 at 8:00 p.m.

BABEL: Ha Jin

Friday, November 20, 2009

Big Night: CA Conrad & Simon Pettet

Saturday, November 21, 2009

  Featuring: Poetry: CA Conrad & Simon Pettet | Performance & Video: Kyle Butler | Food: Geoffrey Gatza Where: The WNY Book Arts Center When: November 21, 2009 at 8:00 p.m.  

THE 1970s

THE 1980s

THE 1990s

THE 2010s