As you may know, many businesses are offering special services and promotions to sustain finances and bring cheer during the pandemonium and uncertainty of COVID-19. The Reading Terminal Market here in Philly is offering free delivery, and Disney Plus has released Frozen 2 three months early.
My favorite part about this is how creatives have stepped up to maintain community and support others suffering anxiety from the pandemic and loneliness due to social isolation. Without ado, below is a short list of virtual events the creative community is hosting over the next few weeks, free of charge.
TONIGHT | Friday, March 20, at 7 p.m. EST | Carolina Poets is hosting a series of live poetry readings called Poetry Goes Viral, where poets from Carolina and beyond will share their work through Facebook Live. This first event features Shane Manier, Elizabeth Robin, and Andrew K. Clark.
TONIGHT | Friday, March 20, at 9 p.m. EST | Musician Tyson Halford is hosting a free COVID Couch Concert Series, playing acoustic originals and covers from his couch in Atlanta, Georgia. Streaming through both Facebook and Instagram.
TONIGHT | Friday, March 20, at 6 p.m. EST | Author Maya Deane is streaming live readings of her new fantasy novel Wrath Goddess Sing every weeknight at 6 p.m. EST on Twitch. These readings are performed by voice actress Katherine Puciarrello. If you're tuning in late, you can catch up on previous night's readings on YouTube.
TONIGHT | Friday, March 20, at 7 p.m. EST | Singer/Songwriter Joe Downer has organized the Quarantine Concert Series on Facebook Live, where various musicians are gathering to provide live concerts from their homes, starting tonight and continuing through the weekend.
Saturday, March 21, at 3 p.m. EST | Children's book author Jacob Thomas is doing live readings to support children in isolation. Thomas is the author of Over the Creek.
Wednesday, March 25, at 7 p.m. EST | Screenwriter Terri Viani is hosting a weekly Script Club via Zoom, where participants will meet to have casual, but lively, discussion about television scripts they have read beforehand. Contact Viani to obtain the script to their first week's discussion on March 25 about Mr. Robot. Viani is on Twitter and Instagram at @tcviani.
The Moseley critique group created a podcast episode to replace their panel, "The Write Start" at the Virginia Festival of the Book that was canceled this year due to the virus. In this podcast, they critique the first one hundred words of each of the fourteen anonymous entries they received for the festival. Hosted by The Writer's Story podcast.
Hats off to all the wonderful people hosting and participating in these events--you are adding something beautiful to the world during a very ugly time. Thank you!
