Critics' picks: This week's hot poetry and lit events

Good Juju Reading Series | Justin Bigos & Erin Stalcup w/ Charleston Poets

Literary nonprofit The Unspoken Word presents the first installation of their Good Juju Reading series this Wednesday at Elliotborough Mini Bar. The evening will feature poet Justin Bigos, author of Mad River and chapbook Twenty Thousand Pigeons, co-editor of literary journal Waxwing, and creative writing professor at Northern Arizona University; Erin Stalcup, another Northern Arizona University creative writing professor and co-editor and co-owner of Waxwing; Georgia Hertz, a novelist and poet living in the Lowcountry; McKayla Conahan, a senior astronomy student at College of Charleston whose poetry focuses on space, nature, childhood, late night convenience stores, and “many instances of bees”; and Saeed K. Jones, a poet and running coach living in Charleston whose work has appeared in the Good Juju Review.

Wed. March 14. 6-9 p.m. Free to attend. Elliotborough Mini Bar. 18 Percy St. Downtown

Poetry at McLeod | Gary Jackson

The first and only project in the nation to bring African-American poets to plantation sites, the Poetry at McLeod series is designed to “illuminate the experience and legacy of American slavery.” Featured poet Gary Jackson, a Topeka, Kan. native, with an MFA from the University of New Mexico, is the author of Missing You, Metropolis, which was selected by Yusef Komunyakaa for the 2009 Cave Canem Poetry Prize. Jackson joined the English department at CofC in 2013, and is the associate poetry editor of Crazyhorse. The reading and reception are free to the first 50 people who come for poetry and is included in the price of admission after. This event is rescheduled from September.

Sun. March 18. 2-4 p.m. Price of admission. McLeod Plantation. 325 Country Club Road. James Island.

Literary Gibbes| Book Club Discussion

Join the Gibbes for a book club style discussion of Red Brick, Black Mountain, White Clay by Christopher Benfey inspired by the Gibbes’ current exhibit, A Shared Legacy: Folk Art in America, in collaboration with the Charleston County Public Library. A brief presentation on the exhibition will precede the discussion which will focus on the book and works in the exhibition. Participation in the book discussion is free but does not include Museum admission. Advance registration is encouraged.

Fri. March 16. 1-2:30 p.m. Included with admission. Gibbes Museum of Art. 135 Meeting St. Downtown.

Itinerant Literate Books | Get Lit Book + Wine Club

Discuss Carmen Maria Machado’s debut collection of stories (and finalist for the National Book Award) Her Body and Other Parties at Junction with Itinerant Literate’s Get Lit Book and Wine Club. Every month the book worms gather to discuss a book over an original, three-course meal with drink pairings inspired by the book. NPR says Her Body and Other Parties is an “abrupt, original, and wild collection of stories, full of outlandish myths that somehow catch at familiar, unspoken truths about being women in the world that more straightforward or realist writing wouldn’t.” Haven’t had a chance to order the book? If you purchase a copy from the bookmobile, you get a glass of wine for free.

Tues. March 20. 6-9 p.m. $40. The Junction Kitchen & Provisions. 4438 Spruill Ave. North Charleston.