When I taught at a small public university in Minnesota, I gave regular readings there, and I also read my poems sometimes at the annual poetry conference I would attend. My efforts to find other venues, either by showing up at advertized open mics at nearby bars or other campuses or by volunteering (to professors elsewhere that I hadn't met or that I knew slightly or to bookstores) to give free readings did not usually pan out. Either the usual members of the group sponsoring the reading would hog the mic or the event would be almost entirely student musicians playing instruments and singing or the professors or bookstores would not respond to my offer. I did once get an invitation from a Classics club to read my Latin translations, in response to a letter sent to an English professor offering to read my poems or translations. That was a fun event. I think writing in form was part of my problem, because most places that sponsor poetry readings seem to have a deep allegiance to free verse and look down on formal poetry. At least that appears to be the case in Iowa City, where I have usually been based when I was not teaching.
Susan
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