Poetry is once again receiving the spotlight it deserves thanks to the surge of event platforms designed to highlight those who skillfully use stanzas to tell their stories.
In April 2024, we had the wonderful opportunity to see the culture shift firsthand while attending the Stretch My Stanzas Poetry Summit (SMS Summit), a 3-day immersive experience for poets and creatives.
Held at the Braid Mill in Philadelphia, the annual festival was a vibe as creators from different states gathered together to flex their skills, showcase their love for the ancient craft of storytelling, and participate in a cash prize slam competition.
The brainchild of Visionary The Poet, the weekend experience featured live performances, panel discussions, workshops, and more.
“Poetry often exists in subdivisions—open mic culture, poetry slam culture, and poetry reading culture. This subdivision naturally leads to cultural divides within the art medium. By curating an event that incorporates all aspects of poetry, we hope to bridge that gap to not only unify the poetry community but also advance the richness of the art,” Visionary shared with BrownStyle Magazine exclusively.
It is always refreshing to see people use their art to uplift, inspire, and draw attention to important topics like self-care and mental health. We were also happy to see poets and spoken word artists from different walks of life unifying while showing off their artistic ability to use words to express their inner thoughts and opinions.
We especially enjoyed the intimate concert from California artist LaRussell, who wowed the crowd with his popular poems and high-energy performance.
Check out our video recap below!
To round out the experience, the SMS Poetry Summit also included a series of engaging panel discussions for poets who wanted to take their talent to the next level. Notable panels included “Betting On You” with Alyssa Ghilardi of Kin Apparel and Kanei Taylor of WAN Poetry, “Pain Points” with Nate Evans of Get To Worthy Summit and Hava Rose of The Write Echo, as well as “Standing On Business” with Tietta of Good Compenny and Rashan Brown of poetry me, please.
We would be remiss if we didn’t mention the event’s workshops designed to help poets and creators hone their craft.
We particularly found Rashan Brown’s (aka Rush The Mic) workshop about building your brand portfolio helpful for those who wanted to package up their skills to leverage potential growth opportunities. The biggest takeaway? Utilize social media to garner attention for your skills—no matter what industry you’re in!
As for what to expect next year, Visionary predicts growth and more community opportunities.
“You can expect to see more of us,” she shares excitedly. “We are currently working on building the infrastructure to increase our cadence. We want to have more touch points with our community, in the form of educational programming and live performances.”
To learn more about the Stretch My Stanzas Poetry Summit and how you can attend next year’s event, visit smspoetrysummit.com.
