Wednesday Night Poetry to feature works by Arkansas inmates
This week’s Wednesday Night Poetry at Kollective Coffee+Tea, 110 Central Ave., will feature “Inside Out,” four poets reading works written by inmates in the Arkansas prison system.
The regular open mic session for all poets will begin at 6:30 p.m. and “Inside Out” will be presented at 7 p.m., followed by an open mic session. Admission is free and open to all ages.
Founder and producer of “Inside Out” Zachary Crow solicited poems from Arkansas prisoners late last year and received more than 100. He was looking for poems that highlighted their experiences as inmates and, with the help of nine poets who were not in prison, that list was narrowed down to 30 poems. Then, in late January, performance poets presented them to a packed house at Vino’s in Little Rock. Proceeds from that event went toward the production costs for a documentary film, “Pipeline.”
“It explores Arkansas’ cradle to prison pipeline. Particularly as it relates to school discipline and juvenile detention in Arkansas,” Crow said in a news release.
It is tradition at WNP to pass the hat following the feature poet’s performance with the proceeds going to the poet. This week the money in the hat will go toward the production of “Pipeline.”
WNP’s presentation of “Inside Out” will feature performances by the following poets:
• Kai Coggin, a former Houston, Texas, Teacher of the Year who moved to Hot Springs to pursue her passion, poetry. She won the 2016 Spa City Slam, has been nominated twice for the prestigious Pushcart Prize and has been published in numerous literary journals and anthologies. She is also the host of the adult poetry workshop Words and Wine.
• Karen Hayes, a North Little Rock poet and an alum of the Writers Colony at Dairy Hollow in Eureka Springs. She is a one-woman-show known as “Dogtown Poetry on Demand.” With a 1971 manual Olivetti typewriter, Hayes travels to events like Hot Springs Farmers Market and writes poetry for people on the spot.
• Gensu “The Blerd Philosopher” is a native of Kenya but was raised in North Little Rock. “Blerd” is in reference to his self-identity as a “black nerd.” A popular poet in the Little Rock slam scene, Gensu is part of the performance group New Wave.
• Born and raised in Little Rock, 36ix is a member of New Wave and coproduced the documentary film “The Post Traumatic Slave Diet.”