SNS | 6-28-25
Join us online for an evening of literary performance and open mic reading
Featuring: Nala Washington + Christopher Michael
Theme: Danger
(scroll down for writing prompt)
Hosted By: Hollie Hardy
Saturday, June 28, 2025
6:00pm Pacific Time
(8:00pm Central time)
Online Event
Free Admission
Sign Up in Advance to Get on the Open Mic List
The theme is optional | Time limit is not optional
Please plan ahead and keep your reading to 3 MINUTES MAX
Scroll down for monthly writing prompt
Join Event on Zoom
Meeting ID: 834 6576 3880
Passcode: 961075
Author Bios
Nala Washington (she/her) is an MFA Poetry Student at Texas State University. You can find her words currently/forthcoming in Midnight & Indigo Lit, The Santa Clara Review, Livina Press, Essay Magazine, Sanctuary Magazine, and more. As a Spoken Word Artist, Nala has competed in the Brave New Voices competition for the D.C. team in 2020, was a featured performer at the Kennedy Center in 2020 for the Arts Across America Series, was the 2023 BIPOC Scholarship winner for the Fine Arts Work Center, was on the Poetry Longlist for the 2025 DISQUIET Literary Prize, and has opened for established poets such as Ebony Stewart and Christopher Michael. Currently, she is a participant of Austin Poetry Slam. You can find her on Instagram and Facebook at @that.poetgirl to keep up with her publications and performances.
Christopher Michael is a writer, educator, publisher, MC, and nationally recognized slam poet, who’s been rocking Texas mics for over 30 years. He’s been a regular at the Austin Poetry Slam since he won his first Grand Slam title in 2005. Mr. Michael is the editor of Texas Slamthology: Vol. 1 and author of four books of poetry including Persona Non Grata, Nuclear Orange, DEMIgOD, and most recently Black Type Poems. His publishing company is 310 Brown Street.
Follow him at @mrmichael310
Learn more at mrmichael310.com
Buy books at 310-brown-street.myshopify.com
Write with Friends! Register for The Write-In!
LET’S WORK ON THE THEME TOGETHER!
Join me the week before SNS, on Saturday afternoon, June 21, for the monthly Write-In, a generative online workshop with Hollie Hardy.
Write-In Details/ Sign Up
June Writing Prompt: Danger
Life is full of peril! Mass deportations, protests, fire and car crashes, mass shootings, flying out of Newark, racial profiling, muggings, leaving your drink unattended, answering your door, pulling over to help a stranger. There are risks we can’t control, and there are risks we choose. Rock climbing, motorcycling, jumping out of planes, traveling alone, riding the janky roller coaster at the carnival that just went up in the parking lot an hour ago, asking for help, giving your boss the finger, enlisting in the armed forces, falling in love, petting a wild animal, speaking truth to power.
This year has felt particularly dangerous. So, this month, I wanted to hold space for us to write about danger. If you’re feeling political, go for it. But there’s no pressure to take any particular stance. There are myriad ways to think about danger and risk—physical, emotional, political, financial, criminal, environmental, etc.
SOME IDEAS
Write about a time when you felt vulnerable, endangered, imperiled.
Write about a near death experience.
Write about a time when you took a risk.
Write about something you survived.
Write about a time when you spoke up for something you believed in.
Write about something crazy, stupid, or brave that you did.
Write about a fork in the road or warning sign.
Write about something dangerous.
Write about a time you were the danger.
Or something else! We’re writers. Everything we write is something we said.
INSPIRATION
Que Sera Sera by A. Van Jordan
Home by Warsan Shire
Fire-Taking by Desirée Alvarez
In Colorado My Father Scoured and Stacked Dishes by Eduardo C. Corral
Infinity Ghazal Beginning with Lice and Never Ending with Lies by Tarfia Faizullah
Letter Beginning with Two Lines by Czesław Miłosz by Matthew Olzmann
Dangerous Life by Lucia Perillo
Danger of Falling by Patricia Goedicke
Dangers by Rodney Jones
More Dangerous Air by Margarita Engle
Poem About Police Violence by June Jorday
Jumping Jack: The M16 Mines by Teresa Mei Chuc
Write More: If you like the SNS writing prompts, consider signing up for my subscription service, Praxis Poetry: Weekly Prompts for Poets. Learn more and sign up for inspiration, accountability, and community!