Meet Five Voices Powering RI’s Poetry Revival

Plus, where to experience National Poetry Month locally

Reese Landry at Open Mic Night

Photos courtesy of CHRiSCHRiS

Reese Landry and Kou Tukala Nyan at Symposium Books

Photos courtesy of CHRiSCHRiS

Poet Ashley Wonder

Photos courtesy of CHRiSCHRiS

Posted Wednesday, April 1, 2026 9:00 am

By Kou Tukala Nyan

Over the past few years, the poetry scene in Rhode Island has seen significant growth. From open mics to workshops and print publications, people are creating art through words. For April’s National Poetry Month, meet five dynamic poets and hear some thoughts about the local scene and their hopes for its future.

The Poets

Salena J. Deane is a creative strategist, “nonprofiteer,” and pole dancer. She founded The Poetry Pour, connecting poets in the region to events, open mics, and the broader community through regular newsletters and the Polish Your Poems workshop. To Deane poetry is “the permission I give myself to be authoritative in my experience and deeply vulnerable in my humanity.”

Vladimir “Vlad” Jean is an artist, army vet, founder of Afroverse, a platform for amplifying marginalized artists through monthly open mics, interviews, and collaborations, and host of Hide-and-Speak, where “poetry meets intimate interviews” at Hide Speakeasy. Poetry to Jean is a “multi-hyphenated multi-sectional pillar of culture and community. It’s spoken soul more than spoken word.”

Reese Landry is the author of the poetry collection, Hope, Love & The Lack Thereof. Through poetry, she overcame hardships and connected with the community both on and off. Poetry helps Landry “identify my emotions to myself, create something beautiful from them, and share them with others in a way that makes the pain worth feeling.”

Sandra Beth Levy is the author of Unfurling The Scroll of Seven Decades, a poetic memoir. Levy, a retired doctor of clinical psychology, has published in over 20 publications, been nominated for local awards, and frequents open mics with her husband, Bob. Poetry to Levy is “healing, connection, reflection, community, growth, self-expression, beauty, breath, truth-telling, spirituality, resistance.”

Monica D. Vance is an artist and licensed therapist blending mental health advocacy, poetry, and encouragement in her spoken word, workshops, and Monday Motivations to help creatives overcome limiting mindsets. Vance says, “Poetry is beautiful in that it can unearth emotions that we thought we had hidden.”

The Discussion

What trends have you noticed in the local poetry scene?

Deane: A trend toward “person-first” narratives, especially with social media and trending topics that used to be considered taboo (like mental health, burnout, and sex). I also notice a rise in DIY infrastructure, probably because traditional publishing can be slow and exclusionary, especially for BIPOC folk.

Vance: Poetry has a way of drawing the most eclectic groups of people. Poets are usually talking about personal stories or using their poetry to comment on the US political climate and the world. There are poets who love to talk about love. Poets seem to be in two or three different poetry camps. Sometimes, the camps merge.

Jean: Trending topics I usually hear in poetry are the good or the bad sides of love, struggles, trauma, and joy – these are the heavy hitters because they are cornerstones of human life.

Levy: Gatherings feel like community efforts to fight fear, prevent one another from going down a hole of despondency, a call to action, and reminders to allow joy and celebration.

What do you think the future looks like for the local poetry community?

Deane: A shift toward sustainability. Writers are done with the “starving artist” trope. We’re going to see more cross-sector collaboration where poetry is integrated into broader community development and economic initiatives.

Jean: A larger outreach to youth will be necessary for all the different brands. Writers and readers will become speakers. Poetry will cement a much larger overall space in arts/entertainment for Providence, similar to the budding comedy scene.

Levy: We’ll need to fight against the intrusion of AI into the art world. We’ll need to find creative ways to support our writing and the arts as grants are drying up and free speech is being squashed by our government. I see rough roads ahead, but poets are spirited.

Landry: The poetry community will continue to grow. In a time when it’s difficult to foster true connection, poetry offers writers and readers a way to connect over emotional experiences common to us all, encouraging empathy and understanding of one another.