Poets' Playground presents Poets Supper Club -- a live poetry showcase and open mic that will sate your hunger for human connection. Meet fellow poets in a shipping container to break bread, forge bonds, and share words that will leave your spirit full. Join us for a night of poetry readings, spoken word artistry, open mic performances and community-building.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Showtime is at 6:30p.m. Everyone 16 years and older is welcome, and this program especially welcomes LGBTQ+ people, BIPOC and other poets and changemakers in the margins.

Featured Readers:

Crystal Simone Smith

Crystal Simone Smith is a widely published poet and educator who has authored several books of poetry. Smith teaches writing in the Thompson Writing Program at Duke University. She writes poetry about the human condition and social change.

DS Will

DS is a creative, community leader, and founder of Press Play Poets, dedicated to amplifying voices through creative expression. He was awarded the 2024 Arts in Action Award by the non-profit organization BrainStemology and served as the Department Head of Poetry at The Raleigh Film and Art Festival from 2020 to 2023, where he created initiatives such as Voices2Reel to highlight youth talent.

Liza Wolff-Francis

Liza Wolff-Francis is the 8th Poet Laureate of Carrboro, NC. She is a feminist ecopoet and has taught creative writing workshops for over a decade. She has an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Goddard College and her latest book is called 48 hours down the shore.

Travis Kyng

Travis Kyng carries his heart on his tongue and drops it into the mic with the force of the ocean. He’s the founder of Den Meets the Throne poetry, co-creator of the Lover and the Sword, and author of 20/20.

Dasia Moore

Hosted by:

Antino Art

Antino Art writes ad copy to feed his daughter and poetry to feed his spirit. As the 2025 Co-Director of Poets’ Playground, his voice was once featured at the Green Mill Poetry Slam in Chicago, and his words are hopefully on a billboard or in a second-hand bookshop somewhere. He’s the author of Postcards From Nowhere, now available from Bottlecap Press.

Sam Canney

Sam Canney is a very sleepy gay poet and disillusioned former entrepreneur with degrees from UNC Chapel Hill. He is the Founder and Co-Director of Poets' Playground and recipient of the 2024 Brooklyn Poets Fellowship. Sam's poetry can be found in Cloudscent Journal's Best-of-the-Issue, The Lickety Split, Sonora Review, and Pinhole Poetry, among others.

Presented by:

Poets’ Playground is Boxyard RTP’s latest community arts program. The mission of the program is to create space for poets and changemakers to freely share their voice, hone their craft, and collaborate on community-building initiatives. Hosting at least four events each year, we bring in local organizations and independent poets to deliver workshops, readers panels, poetry book fairs, open mics and more -- all in a single day.