First Fridays Poetry Reading Series & Open Mic w/ Leslie Archibald

Join us for an evening of captivating readings featuring Leslie Archibald at our First Fridays Reading Series on July 10
About this Event

First Fridays Reading Series and Open Mic is proud to feature Leslie Archibald with Margo Davis opening on Friday, July 10, at Inprint House!

Leslie Archibald is a Houston-based writer. When she is not writing, you may find her photographing Houston’s unique character or dabbling in watercolors. Her visual and literary works appear in anthologies, lit magazines, and Houston galleries. Her chapbook Poems for a Broken 𝙼̶𝚊̶𝚛̶𝚛̶𝚒̶𝚊̶𝚐̶𝚎̶ Man (FL Press) is now available. Learn more about Leslie at lesliearchibaldwriter.com, or @leslie.archibald

Here’s a sample of Leslie’s work:

I Once Had Wings
My mother gave me wings and told me I could fly.
She taught me that I had a voice
and that I could make my own choices. Then you
you held your hand over my mouth to silence me. You
picked feather by feather, pulled and ripped until my wings broke
loose. You held me down. You told me I was nothing, I would never fly
on my own. I still heard her voice in my head
telling me I could leave so I
limped out the door hoisting my wings behind me.
Published in Chapbook Poems for a Broken 𝙼̶𝚊̶𝚛̶𝚛̶𝚒̶𝚊̶𝚐̶𝚎̶ Man (Finishing Line Press)

Margo Davis will be our opening Pop-Up poet. Recent poems by Margo Davis appear in local outstanding journals such as equinox and Synkroniciti, as well as The Arkansas Review, Deep South, and Mackinaw Journal. Forthcoming poems are to appear in The MacGuffin as well as a series for The Ekphrastic Review. Her recent poetry collection Uncoupling (LULP) appeared in 2026. Her photographs have appeared in Barcelona galleries and several journals; more photos are forthcoming in Flyway. Margo resides in Houston but still thinks of herself as a New Orleanian.

Program:

• 7:00 Doors open (Come early to get a seat.)
• 7:30 Popup Poet Wafa Shaikh reads
• 7:40 Our Feature, Stephen Schwei reads
• 8:00 Short break (buy/sell/sign books)
• 8:15 Open mic

Accessible entrance in the back. Parking is limited, so plan accordingly.

Agenda

🕑: 07:00 PM
Doors Open
🕑: 07:30 PM
Pop-up Poet, Margo Davis
🕑: 07:40 PM - 08:00 PM
Our featured poet, Leslie Archibald, will read.
🕑: 08:00 PM
Open Mic

Info: As always, we’ll end the evening with Houston’s longest-running open mic featuring some of Houston's best poetry!