Birmingham Public Library’s (BPL) popular Bards & Brews poetry performance/beer tasting series takes place this Friday at Ruffner Mountain Nature Preserve’s Back Porch. Usually held the first Friday of each month, the September event features beer provided by Back Forty Beer Company out of Gadsden and will be an open mic event. The program is made possible by grants from the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. Admission is free and open to the public; however, attendees must be at least 18 to enter and 21 to participate—ID is required.

The October Bards & Brews will be a slam and it is scheduled in conjunction with the library’s annual Eat Drink Read Write (EDRW) Festival on Friday, October 9, 2015. Taking place the second Friday in October, this very special edition of EDRW takes place at BPL’s Central Library located at 2100 Park Place, Birmingham 35203. For more information, call 205-226-3670, e-mail hm@bham.lib.al.us, visit the Bards & Brews Facebook page or go to http://www.bplonline.org/programs/BardsBrews.aspx.