2nd Thursday Poetry Readings – February 2026

In person at the MAC. All readings are free and open to the public with an Open Mic before the featured speakers.
Space is limited at the Open Mic, signup starts at 645 pm the night of the reading.
Series Coordinated by Linda Carney-Goodrich:
poetry@hpaa-mac.org – https://lindacarneygoodrich.com
Series Hosted by Toni Bee: https://tonibee.org

Thursday, February 12, 2026, 7 – 9 pm
Featuring Wallace Coar, Heather Nelson, and Alan Smith Soto.

Wallace Coar is a poet and storyteller whose work delves into the quiet fractures and hidden truths of everyday life. His spoken word pieces explore love, longing, societal disconnection, and the human capacity for resilience, blending sharp observation with a raw emotional honesty. Wallace’s voice has been shaped by lived experience and deep reflection, capturing moments of intimacy, struggle, and revelation with precision and care. Whether performed on stage or shared through writing, his work invites audiences to pause, reflect, and confront the truths we often leave unspoken.

Heather Nelson first studied poetry in college, where she developed her thesis project under the guidance of C. D. Wright and Peter Gizzi at Brown University in 1994. She returned to writing in 2011 and has since been published in Ekphrastic Review, Lily Poetry Review, Spoon River Review and others. Her first book, Motherland, was published by Kelsay Books in 2025. She currently leads a local free-write, runs writing workshops for high school students and hosts a book group in Cambridge, Mass. She has been active in the Boston area literary scene, and has taught classes at Grub Street, planned events for Litcrawl, as well as organized author talks and other activities.

Alan Smith Soto, born in San José, Costa Rica grew up there and in the U.S. in a bilingual family. The author of four books of poems, Fragmentos de alcancía (1998), Libro del lago (2014), Hasta que no haya luna (2021) and Templo (2024), his poetry in English has appeared in Blue Unicorn (2021), Essential Voices -A Covid-19 Anthology (2023), The Winter Anthology (2024) and The Arts Fuse (2025). His translation of Robert Creeley’s Life and Death (Vida y muerte) was published in 2000 (Madrid: Árdora). His play, César y Federico was premiered in Madrid in October, 2025. His plays Pilatos and El regalo will be premiered in May, 2025 in Madrid.