All appearances, Shadows of the Seen, These New Orbs and The Timothy Gager Uno

 The most up to date will always be on www.timothygager.com

All appearances are Eastern Standard or Eastern Daylight Time

Every other Thursday and sometimes Friday, except Holidays

Virtual Dire Literary Series
To Attend use "contact me" form for information

or join Virtual Fridays Dire Literary Series group on Facebook
or check The updates within my blog

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Thur, September 25, 2025, 7:00 PM EDT, Natick, MA

Ten Trees Books


22 Main Street, Natick, Ma (in The Hive)

Pierian Springs Press Author Reading

Timothy Gager, S. Frederic Liss and Anne Starr

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Sat, October 18, 2025, 6:00 PM EDT, Boston, Ma

Italian American Writers Association Boston Series


I Am Books

124 Salem St (North End), Boston, Ma

Reading with Laurette Folk

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Sat, October 25, 2025, 10:00 AM-6:00 PM EDT, Copley Square, Boston, MA

Boston Book Festival, Authors of Pierian Springs Press


Copley Square

Find me with Dewitt Henry, Elizabeth Searle, Laurette Folk and others

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Thur, October 30, 2025, 6:30 PM EDT, Lowell, MA

lala Books


189 Market Street, Lowell, Ma

Reading with and in conversation with Elizabeth Searle

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Wed, November 5, 2025, 7:00 PM EDT, Portsmouth, New Hampshire

The Hoot Poetry Series
reading for Portsmouth Poet Laureate Program


Laney & Lu
360 Route 1 Bypass, Unit 104, Portsmouth, NH

featuring with Adam Roberts with an open mic immediately following.

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Fri, November 14, 2025, 7:00 PM EDT, Framingham, Ma

Author Roundtable


Beacon of Hope Church
360 Water Street, Framingham, Ma

Free Community Event, featuring with Lawrence Kessenich and Laurette Folk

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Fri, November 21, 2025, :00 PM EDT, Keene, New Hampshire

Toadstool Bookstore
12 Emerald St., Keene, New Hampshire



Reading with Lawrence Kessenrich

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Sat, December 6, 2025, 8:00 PM EDT, Biddeford, Maine

Beat Poetry Night at Flourish

Spoken word backed by live music

140 Main Street, Biddeford, Me.

featuring at a series hosted by Claire Conroy

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Sun, February 1, 2026, 7:00 PM EDT, Lynn, Ma

The Timothy Gager Uno (acoustic),
Sunday Music Feature, Walnut St. Cafe


Open Mic at 7, My feature, 8:30 PM
157 Walnut Street, Lynn, Ma

hosted by Roger Jermyn and Dave Somerset

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Sat, February 14, 2026, doors 8:00 PM EDT, Jamaica Plain, Ma

The Timothy Gager Uno (acoustic),
Smell the Love Fundraiser
for the Jamaica Plain Music Festival


Playing two songs, with huge lineup
Midway Cafe, 3496 Washington St, Jamaica Plain, MA

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Thur, February 26, 2026, Somerville, Ma, 7:00 PM

Might Delete Later Series


reading from my novel in progress

The Remnant at Bow Market
2 Bow Market Way, Union Square, Somerville

Group Reading with Toni Bee, Michelle Hoover, Whitney Scharer,
Alise Upitis and Tori Weston

Hosted by Gilmor Tamny

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March 4-7, 2026, Baltimore, Maryland

AWP Conference

for Shadows of the Seen

Baltimore Convention Center

Details forthcoming

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Tue, March 10, 2026, 7:00 PM EDT, Philadelphia, Pa

Philadelphia Writers Circle


for Shadows of the Seen

Ray's Birthday Bar

1200 Passyunk Ave, Philadelphia, PA

Group reading with Nicole M Wolverton, L.M. Camilio, Brianna Benozich,
Davi Schweizer and Hanah Davenport

hosted by Alessandro DiFranccesco
and Jane-Rebecca Cannarella

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Thur, March 11, 2026, 6:00 PM EDT, New York, NY

Italian American Writers Association New York Series


for Shadows of the Seen

Calandra Institute

25 West 43rd Street, 17th Floor, NY

Reading with Jennifer Militello, Poet Laureate of New Hampshire

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Tue, March 17, 2025, 4-8 PM EDT, Beverly, MA

Recording for the show Art About Bev Cam, Beverly Cable Television


Hosted by Jen Campbell

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Tue, May 19, 2026, 7:00 PM EDT, Virtual Reading

The First and Last Poetry Series

for These New Orbs (to be released 2026)

zoom
Reading with TBA, hosted by Harris Gardner and Gloria Mindock

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Wed, July 15, 2026, 6:00 PM EDT, Gloucester, Ma

The Timothy Gager Uno (acoustic),
Featuring: Songwriters Circle


Feature 6:00 PM
Magnolia Pub / JD & Myers
24 Lexington Ave Gloucester

hosted by Alexandra Kirby

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Sat, August, 8, 2026, 1:00 PM EDT, Boston, Ma.

Boston Poetry Marathon

for These New Orbs (to be released 2026)

The Community Church of Boston
565 Boylston Street, Copley Square, Boston

Reading with the 1-2 PM group at all day festival

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Thur, August 20 2026, 7:00 PM EDT, Cambridge, Ma

for Shadows of the Seen or These New Orbs

Featuring at Phinista Reading Series


The Phinista Cafe
1876 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, Ma

hosted by Tehila Lieberman

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Wed, September 9, 2026, 5:00 PM EDT, Manchester, NH

for These New Orbs

Featuring at NAV Arts Reading


The Bookery
844 Elm Street, Manchester, NH

hosted by Jon Wesick

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Wed, September 23, 2026, 7:30 PM EDT, Lynn, Ma

for These New Orbs

Featuring at Speak up at the Walnut St. Cafe


Open Mic at 7:30, My feature, 8:30 PM
157 Walnut Street, Lynn, Ma

hosted by Call Dave Somerset

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Sun, September 27, 2026, 7:00 PM EDT, Lynn, Ma

The Timothy Gager Uno (acoustic),
Sunday Music Feature, Walnut St. Cafe


Open Mic at 7, My feature, 8:30 PM
157 Walnut Street, Lynn, Ma

hosted by Roger Jermyn and Dave Somerset

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Thur, November 12, 2026, 7:30 PM EDT, Mansfield, Ma

for These New Orbs

Featuring at Pour Me a Peom
plus open mic

51 Park Street, Mansfield, MA

hosted by Wayne-Daniel Berard and Sara Letourneau

Meat for Tea: The Valley Review publishes two poems

These New Orbs expected out in 2026 is a book of poems related to orbs (any orb). Meat for Tea: The Valley Review's Editor In-Chief,  Elizabeth MacDuffie selected two poems These New Orbs and Between Us, for their Faux issue. Excited to be included. 

IF YOU CLICK ON THE PIC, YOU CAN ACTUALLY READ IT

BUY IT HERE

Contributors:
Shirley J. Brewer, Jacob Chapman, Christine Gay Dutton, Rebecca Evans, Timothy Gager, Dianne Germain, John Guzlowski, DG Herring, Richard Wayne Horton, Sarah Hussein, Matt Jasper, Mary Jennings, Sara Jourgensen, Aunia Kahn, Heather Kays, Kate Kinney , Tom Kovar, Jeffrey Konvitz, Linda Kraus, Keith Kurlander, LindaAnn LoSchavio, Matthew J. McKee, Reid Messerschmidt, Spencer T. Murray, Sean Bw Parker, Neal Parks, Robert Peate, David Ram, Charles Rammelkamp, Kevin Ridgeway, Matt Schairer, Andrew Shelffo, Christopher Sullivan, Peter Tacy, Constance Walter, Michael Washburn, Gerald Yelle, John Yamrus

Flash piece, Dogs is up at Literary Underground

 So, this year we've had cats and bears featured in published flash fictions. Now it's time for Dogs to make a showing at The Literary Underground. 

The story behind the story: A stick library for dogs actually exists, in Cambridge (of course), Massachusetts. I read about it and went with it. Click the pic to see more about it. 

HISTORY of The Literary Underground
It Started With the Wiki
The Literary Underground Wiki was created in June 2010 to compile a shared knowledge base about the underground press. It was an open-source encyclopedia written collaboratively by the people who used it. The Literary Underground Wiki covered the history, production, distribution and culture of the underground press.

Excited that "No More Bears" is up with audio file at Pine Hills Review

My Flash Fiction piece,  No More Bears has a home in the Pine Hills Review. In 2025 I've had flash fictions Cats in The Freshwater Review and upcoming, Dogs will be out in The Literary Underground in early September. 

Cats

and Dogs

and Bears, oh my!

The story behind the story: This is a basic dysfunctional family story which fits anyone who grew up with an overly critical mother. No More Bears stars Goldilocks from that other story with the bears. The piece was accompanied by a picture and an audio file read by me. 

Here's a little history behind The Pine Hills Review

Our history is varied. Established in 2014 in association with The College of Saint Rose as part of its M.F.A. in creative writing program, Pine Hills Review was founded by Daniel Nester and Sarah Sherman. After the M.F.A. program was discontinued, Pine Hills Review began a second iteration in 2019 as an independent journal.

Since the closure of the colle in June 2024, Pine Hills Review (ISSN 2470-8321) continues as a wholly independent and unaffiliated literary journal. We welcome interest from others to help edit the journal as well.

My friend Daniel Nester is on their masthead:

Masthead

Alex J. Tunney (editor; he/him) is a writer somewhere in downstate New York. His writing has been published in the Lambda Literary Review, The Rumpus, Complete Sentence, The Under Review and The Inquisitive Eater. You can keep up with him on Instagram at @axelturner.

Daniel Nester (editor; he/him) is the author most recently of Harsh Realm: My 1990s. His other books include Shader, How to Be Inappropriate, and God Save My Queen I and II. For 19 years, he was a professor of English at The College of Saint Rose in Albany, NY. Subscribe to his Substack.

Samantha Zimmerman (editor; she/her) is an all-over-the-place poet with a passion for all things experimental and confessional. Her work has been featured in Sledgehammer Lit, Bullshit Lit, Discretionary Love Magazine, BarBar Lit, and The Afterpast Review. You can keep up with her on Twitter @samthezim.

Replay Central---The Summer of 25, and all other recordings of Virtual Dire Series features since 2020

                                                      June 2025

Elizabeth Hazen

Bob Walicki

July 2025

Andrew Siditsky

Michael Ansara

                           August 2025

Michael Martone

Hosho McCreesh

                                         Winter - Spring 2025 (link to replay website)

Eileen Pollack, George S. Peterson, Ellen Kombiyil, M.K. Jackson,  Chad Parenteau, Kerry Beth Neville, Lawrence Kessenich, Linda Carney-Goodrich, Amy Alvarez, Kurt Baumeister

                                                       Autumn 2024 (link to replay)

Jackie Corley, Dawn Tripp, Sara Letourneau, Kristin Bok, Edward Belfar, JoeAnn Hart, Margaret Young, Gabby Gilliam, Lee Varon 

Summer 2024 (link to replay website)

Susan Zalkind, Jessica Anya Blau, Gregory Wolos, Melissa Cundieff, Ben Tanzer, John Amen

Spring 2024 (link to replay website)

Doug Crandell, Mathew Olzmann, William Orem, Martin Ott, M.P. Carver, Phil Temples, Mag Gabbert, Robert Fleming, Danielle Legros George, Michael Keith, Mark Wish

Autumn-Winter 2023 (link to replay website)

Marianne Leone, Tiffany Davenport, Jennifer Friedman Lang, Ray Guidrox, Gary Grossman, Elizabeth McKim, Carla Panciera, Dr. Dannagal G. Young, Ellis Elliot, Enzo Silon Surin, Josh Barkan, Laura Zigman, Tom Laughlin

Spring/Summer 2023 (links to website)

Jane Roper, John Wesick, Jennifer Martelli, John Fulton, Tricia Barker Barton, Cynthia Atkins, Katie Moulton, Yael Goldstein Love, Julia Lisella

Winter 2023 (link to website)

Suzanne Frischkorn, Kim Addonizio, Thomas McNeely, Jenna Le, Sarah Bridgins, Lee Matthew Goldberg, Lise Hanes, Dr. Paula Perez, Michael Mark, Maya Williams, Hannah Sward, Caitlin Avery, Carla Swartz, Stacy TenHouton, Donna Spruijt-Metz, Morgan Baker

Autumn 2022 (link to website) 

Jonathan Papernick, A.K. Small, Aaron Tillman, David Rockland, Kimberly Ann Priest, Sain Griffiths, Harris Gardner, Lisa Taylor, Michael Keith, Jim Shepard, Zach VandeZande, Rusty Barnes, Daniel Nester. Kurk Lovelace (reading from Annemarie O'Connell's book), and Nina Shope

Spring/Summer 2022 (link to website) 

Sara Lippmann, Robin McLean, Gregory Orr, Rich Murphy, Diane Suess, Ron Tanner, Aleathea Drehmer, Christina Adams, Sharon Applegate Greenwald, Lucas Scheelk, 

Joseph Milosch, Barbara Legere, Ellene Glenn Moore, Vincent Cellucci and Chris Shipman

Winter 2022

Renuka Raghaven, Jessica Cuello, Jen Knox, Daniel Biegelson, Alison Stine, 

John Rosenthal, Peter Crowley, Maggie Doherty, Erin Khar, Elan Barnehama, 

Marguerite Guzman Bouvard

Autumn 2021

DeMisty Bellinger, Cheryl Pappas, Matt Bell, Michael Keith, Gloria Mindock, 

Molly Gaudry, CD Collins, Kevin Prufer, Beth Robinson/Chris Joseph, Alina Stefanuscu, Meg Smith, Gregory Wolos, Damian Dressic, Jason Wright, Blake Butler 

Summer 2021

Natalie Brobin Bonfig, John Domini, Anna VQ Ross, Rachel Yoder

Spring 2021

Sandra Simonds, George Wallace, Caroline Levitt, Charles Coe, Susan Henderson, 

Major Jackson, Kara Vernor, Meredith Goldstein, Kimberly Ann Priest, Joanna Rakoff

Winter 2021

Rick Moody , Laurette Folk, Mark Saba, Sarah Anne Johnson, 

Josh Barkan/ Jennifer Haigh, Keetje Kuipers, January O'Neil,  Elle Nash, 

Danielle Zaccagnino, Marty Beckerman, Nathan Graziano , Steven Cramer

Autumn 2020

Carly Israel, Daphne Kalotay, Ryan Ridge, Marge Piercy, Kerry Beth Neville, 

Yuyutsu Sharma, Chris Joseph, Elizabeth Gordon McKim, Diana Spechler, 

Jonathan Escoffrey, Dewitt Henry, Brian Sonia-Wallace, Rebecca Fishow,

 Marguerite Bouvard, Pamela Painter, Kim Chinquee, Jessica Keener, Amy King

Autumn 2025 Virtual Dire Literary Series Schedule

 Here's a song for Autumn

And here's the list for Autumn features

September

4     Alexandra Naughton

18:  Heather Kays

October

2   Matt Jasper

16: Emily Schultz

23. Susan Michele Coronel

November

6    Austyn Wohlers

20:  Misty O'Hara

December

4     Elizabeth Searle

18   Ryan Vine

New poem published today, The Stars Who Refuse to Burn Out, after Andrea Gibson on Oddball Magazine

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Grateful that my poem The Stars Who Refuse to Burn Out, after Andrea Gibson is live today, published on Oddball Magazine (a magazine for anyone who isn't anything)

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Andrea Gibson and her wife Megan

Poet Andrea Gibson (they/them) died. I didn't know them, and the poem is not about them. I can’t say that I loved them as much as others who  loved them, for the reasons they loved them, I had no reason to. The reasons being we don't have a lot of shared experiences in life, in poetic style, in gender, in acceptance for who they are etc.—-but I saw them in Nashville in 2020—- a packed house,  close to 350. 

I didn't even know of them at the time, but they were awesome, and brave with their words. . The poems were amazing, and the truth, no matter how vulnerable was inspiring. There’s a movie, called Come See Me in The Good Light you can watch about their life and fucking attitude regarding thier uncurable cancer, filmed after their diagnosis in 2021. 

So I wrote. I didn’t write it as a tribute, but rather an attempt (if at all possible,  impossible) to capture their poetic voice, their vulnerability in how in manifests in my life. Again it's not about Andrea Gibson but, I used some phrases I found on performances, and interviews on YouTube, as well as from their Substack. Read that when you get a chance.

Earlier this week I posted about Tom Tipton. I knew him. Today it is Andrea. I am amazed by them. I will not post about Ozzie Osbourne. Sorry.

"Art is for the People," RIP, Tom Tipton

      

Tom Tipton

Cambridge art icon, and friend Tom Tipton died this week. Here's a video, an outtake from a documentary, filmed in 2005. Come on and take a drive through Cambridge with Tom Tipton. 

Some 24 years ago, the Dire Literary Series had a 3 month run at The Cantab, which for the record was 3 events held. Poet Gary Hicks told me of this little place called The Out of the Blue Art Gallery in Cambridge, so I went down and met Tom Tipton and Debra Priestly. Within 10 minutes they said I could have a Friday Night there, once a month for 50 bucks. Simple, easy, and when it came to art, there was no other way with Tom. Without this, without Tom and Debra, the connections I've made in the writing community which has helped fueled my work and following would look paltry. Because of his generosity, Tom Tipton gets a lot of credit for what my writing career grew to. 

   Tom was a unique, hardworking gem to work with. His dream was to have an art gallery that anyone could access and make art. We developed a relationship, running into each other the nights of the Dire and during weekly meetings for the Gallery every Monday held at The Middle East. 

  Tom never gave up. The gallery moved from Brookline Ave., then to it's most well-known location, Prospect Street. In order to get an idea about what it was like, here's a clip from a Dire event in Tom's gallery in 2008. I'm the guy with hair. 

When the Prospect Street building was sold, Joseph and Nabil from The Middle East helped they move into a huge space, the former Blockbuster Video in Cambridge.  It still held art and now spaces/stores for the artist. It still made art and artists accessible. It still hosted poetry and it became kind of a rock club with live music on the weekends. It hosted electronic, eclectic, experimental, and this 80's sounding thing below by Dead Leaf Echo---it gave bands a venue to play out when they couldn't get into other clubs.  I ended up hosting198 Dire Events at those three OOTB Galleries. 

 After a few years there, in 2017, the rent went up to 10,000 dollars a month, and pretty much live Dire ended. There wasn't a solid reliable place to host it. Then I lost track of Tom and the Gallery, mostly because I didn't vibe with his new partner, but I regret not keeping in touch with Tom. He was a good one. 

Three Poems published by North of Oxford's July issue

  

   The online journal, North of Oxford, has two familiar names heading up their masthead, Diane Sahmes and g emil reutter, have I've known since 2008 when they edited the Fox Chase Review. It was very cool to see them start this new journal and to have three of my poems accepted for their July issue.  

NOTE: When reading on your phone, tilt it horizontal for the proper line breaks. 

Unattributed graphic 

 Here's the story behind the poems

 1) lepidopterans-  I wrote this at an evening at The Walnut Street Cafe in Lynn, a place I love, and a poetry series (Speak Up), I often attend. At their register is a glass display case with their selection of bottled beer. I wrote this poem about that. 

 2) The Storm He Can No Longer Remember: Written in my father's POV, near the end of his life. 

 3) When the Mind Goes First (for my father):  I lost my father in 2022, and although some say one never recovers from that, perhaps it's more like one doesn't wish to forget a loved one.  Reminiscing about my father thinking about his death. 

Wilderness House Literary Review publishes review of Shadows of the Seen

 I got a nice review from WHLR where, for years, I used to be their fiction editor, so the review really is by a friend of the family. 

To Purchase a copy check the many options, if you click this link at the bottom

Wilderness House Literary Review 20/2  

Shadows of the Seen by Timothy Gager 

ISBN 9781965784099 

Pierian Springs Press 

Review by a friend of the family 

Haunting, Riveting, and Relentlessly Honest: A Novel That Holds a Mirror to America 

Shadows of the Seen by Timothy Gager is a provocative and unflinching novel that dives deep into the fractured psyche of modern America, where personal trauma, political ambition, and gun violence collide in shocking and deeply human ways. 

The novel unfolds through a series of interconnected narratives—Candace, a rising Republican star with a carefully hidden past; Peter, her volatile former lover scarred by neglect and rage; Lucky, a man grasping for redemption; and Bobby-Joe, the clean-cut poster boy of conservative America. Gager skillfully explores how their lives twist together against a backdrop of political doublespeak, performative morality, and the devastating reality of gun culture. 

From the very first chapter, Gager’s voice is raw and unapologetic. His descriptions of violence and emotional despair don’t flinch—they cut. In particular, the prologue (“They Do Not Ring Out”) is a masterclass in immediacy and psychological detail, capturing the chaos and dissociation of a mass shooting with terrifying clarity. 

Candace’s journey—from a manipulated teen to a calculating political figure—is particularly compelling. Gager doesn’t paint her as simply hypocritical or villainous; rather, she’s deeply human, caught between ambition and suppressed trauma. Her ascent through political ranks, bolstered by a marriage of convenience and NRA backing, offers biting commentary on how “values” are twisted into strategy. 

The novel isn’t just about gun violence—it’s about what America chooses to see and what it insists on hiding. Gager skewers both ends of the political spectrum with equal precision, but reserves his sharpest critique for a society that treats mass shootings as background noise and politicians as products of marketing rather than moral conviction. 

Despite the heavy themes, Shadows of the Seen is compulsively readable. The pacing is brisk, the dialogue razor-sharp, and the structure—told through shifting points of view—keeps the emotional stakes high. 

If you’re looking for a novel that dares to confront the darkest corners of contemporary American life, this book delivers. It’s not comfortable. It’s not easy. But it’s necessary. Shadows of the Seen should be required reading—an unsettling parable of our times.

Reading some poems from "These New Orbs" on WGBH, Boston

Orb poems. These New Orbs my next book of poetry should be out sometime in the future. Right now it is floating like an orb, appearing like a ghost. 

At 4:20 of this video you will hear the poems These New Orbs and The Shape of Things

"Cats" (starring my feral cats) published in the Freshwater Review (The College of St. Scholastica journal)

     This is Oliver, a.k.a. Olive, a sweet feral cat I've fed for 12 years. She's one of four I feed, but she is a regular, visiting daily. Her sister Dusty comes by, 3-4 times per week. Neab old Orange Cat,  with a missing ear and closed eye, visits every so often, just to hiss at me, and then eat. There is one more, House Cat, who visits, but I try to chase her away. After all, she is a house cat belonging to one of my neighbors. No hand-outs for the able-bodied!

    

Olive and Dusty star as themselves in the work of fiction that The Freshwater Review, Volume 28, out of The College of St. Scholastica, generously published in their 28th Volume. The kitties didn't complain or sue me for using their story, which involves a kind woman who fed, and socialized them, before being taken from the world---her partner, Jesse becoming the cat-keeper. 

    The art on the cover is by Paul LaJeunesse, and this is the issue that nominated me for The Rose Warner Prize for Prose. 

    You can read the piece below, but it's much more beautiful in your hand, and cheap at $7. My thumb blocks the first two letters in "stroked," and the letter 's' in "soon". 

(That's All Folks)

My poem, "We" choreographed, spoken and danced to by Betsy Miller at Mass Poetry Festival June 1, 2025

 Mass Poetry Festival is an amazing joining of poets, readings, panels and anything poetry related. The headliners were: Diannely Antigua, Marilyn Chin, Ross Gay, Saeed Jones, Keetje Kuipers, Danez Smith, and Regie Gibson. I saw and hung out with people I hadn't seen for awhile, much too many to name. Fun, fun, weekend. It felt like a vacation. 

I was involved, directing the Poetry-Go-Round which featured rounds of poetry from reading series groups, The Garage Poets, Virtual Dire Series, Speak Up, Pour Me a Poem, Lily Poetry, and Stone Soup. 

I was very moved by the production of my poem "We" which was done by Betsy Miller.  You can view it here, and read it below.