Poetry can soothe or energize, be a respite or a gut punch, a prod forward or a soft place to land. Poetry is what you make it, much like the Brew. A poetry open mic is a community, and we are here to support one another all the way through, to kvetch and tend, wrassle with the matters at hand and summon the better angels of our nature. Sometimes we just need to rant and spill and share our messy sketches of this messy, messy world. It’s all good and all are welcome so long as we respect each other in turn.
Before we get into upcoming events, Brew favorite Tiana Clark has struck a much-needed joyful note in her new poem “The Terror of New Love!” (The exclamation point is Tiana’s!) You can read it at New England Review, and revel in all that goodness with a heaping side of compersion.

The first Saturday of the month comes and it happens to be this very Saturday, July 2! We hope you will join us and share your voice. It’s good practice for telling the world your mind and there are surely some folks who could stand to listen up right now.
The zoom session begins 4:45 PM CDT with open mic starting at 5:00 PM. Each poet has 5 minutes to share their words.
When you send the form, you’ll receive the confirmation on this page. An email with list order will follow at the end of the week, before the reading.
July 9 Feature Blk Sol
Blk Sol is a published author and performing poet from Wichita, KS, by way of Selma, AL. He initially began focused on Slam Poetry, representing Wichita on its only National Slam Team in 2011. He continued competing nationally for 4 years, then shifted his focus to creating opportunities for poets both in Wichita and on the road. In 2014 he cofounded TruPoetry & Art, and has been publishing poets, organizing and promoting shows since.
Blk Sol has garnered numerous local and national recognitions, nominations and awards including the 2019 National Spoken Word Awards (NSWA) Open Mic of the Year (Lyrics & Laughs) and the 2020 NSWA Promoter of the Year. He has headlined and featured in cities across the country including Kansas City, Chicago, St. Louis, Tulsa, Boston, Los Angeles, Albuquerque and more. He currently has one publication, #TruPoetry, and is releasing his second book, Hoetry After Dark, in 2022.
You can find Blk Sol on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube. We’ll return with a preview of Blk Sol’s poetry ahead of his feature next week.



2nd Saturday Open Mic Poetry Reading
Located at:
Portland Brew East
1921 Eastland Avenue
Nashville, TN 37206
Sat. July 9
Sign-up at 4:30pm
Reading starts at 5:00pm
Choose any spot on the list in the loft. Each person on the signup gets 5 minutes max on the open mic.
June 29 is the one year anniversary of the video for Reese North’s “Broome W A,” focusing on the plight of the Indigenous Australians. Reese’s statement and poem are available on YouTube in this moving, compassionate tribute edited by Andrew Lee for Say It Louder.
Nashville poets, activists, creative visionaries and community leaders Henry L. Jones, K H A O S, and Nella Pearl Frierson showed out for fabulous back-to-back weekend performances at the Looby Theater. Henry L. Jones acted in, designed and built the sets for Music City Jubilee, a play about the Fisk Jubilee Singers, who are responsible for Nashville’s original rep as Music City. K H A O S and Nella Pearl Frierson both played roles in Fulani: The Musical, in which a young woman seeks to learn about the biological mother who left her in a dumpster as a baby. As the poster promises, Fulani “unexpectedly discovers the true meaning of love, family and acceptance in a world separated by class.”











Sugg. $5 cover for online and in-person readings. Sustaining members of the Brew Crew on Patreon earn perks. We also accept Cash App $PitBNash, Venmo @ChristineRaquel, and PayPal @poetryinthebrew.
Open mics are livestreamed and archived on our Patreon. Special thanks to our patrons, especially Impresario Extraordinaires Rhoda Thomas, Katie Thompson, and Bonnie Solloway for keeping the Brew flowing!
Based in Nashville, TN, and hosted by Christine Hall. For more info: poetryinthebrew@gmail.com