Join us for the Gullah Celebration, a month-long series dedicated to celebrating and promoting local Gullah and African American poets who are passionate about illuminating poetry, prose, spoken word, and other literary arts. This extraordinary poetry series features readings by exceptional published poets and emerging talents through open mic sessions. As a premier venue for poets, writers, artists, and performers, our Poetry Series offers groundbreaking, innovative, and thought-provoking work that seeks to explore fresh aesthetic, cultural, philosophical, and political perspectives in contemporary society.
This evening’s series will be headlined by AsiahMae (stylized A$iahMae) [they/she] is a Black, non-binary Southern writer, poet, producer and community worker from the Southeast US. With a background covering film, curation, language arts, and performance, they are a co-creator of both the online writing platform For The Scribes and the curation hub IllVibe the Tribe, current show-runner of the oldest vintage market in the city, The Holy City Vintage Market, as well as the Second Poet Laureate of Charleston, SC.
Willie Lee Kinard III is a Black nonbinary poet, designer, editor & musician forged in Newberry, South Carolina. A 2023 Ruth Lilly & Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellow, their musings include gospel surrealism, Black romance & superstition. With written work appearing in Obsidian, Poem-A-Day, Best New Poets 2022, Boston Review, The Rumpus, & elsewhere, he is the author of Orders of Service (Alice James Books, 2023), winner of the 2022 Alice James Award, & a self-published chapbook-mixtape, chroma. (2016). The recipient of fellowships & support from The Watering Hole, The Pittsburgh Foundation, & a Pushcart Prize nomination, Kinard currently teaches at the University of South Carolina.
Reservations are highly encouraged for guests. Call (843) 715-8008 to reserve your seat or table. Seatings begin at 6:30 PM. Come and experience the power of words with us in one of the Island’s most iconic locations - Red Stripes Caribbean Cuisine & Lounge. Authentic Caribbean menu options are available for purchase.