In honor of National Poetry Month, celebrate Sacramento’s history and tradition of spoken and written word at this dynamic evening of art and performance. Enjoy a line-up of local poets followed by an open mic. Open mic sign-ups begin at 6 PM.  

In preparation for Open Poetry Night, enjoy the Crocker’s digital Poets from the Library Series here.

Coon the Poet
A teaching artist, youth mentor, community builder, and youth advocate, Coon the Poet is an award-winning spoken word artist and motivational speaker and the creator/founder of the Pain to Power Poetry program. In 2022, he was recognized by the California State Senate for his contributions through poetry and beyond. With a prominent presence of 15 years in the Sacramento poetry scene, he dismantles barriers through his voice, inspiring minds, motivating spirits, and embodying the roles of a griot, warrior, healer, young elder, and survivor.

Andru Defeye
Whether sharing stages with legendary beat poets or your favorite Hip Hop emcees, Andru Defeye’s unorthodox writing and performance style has made him a fixture behind microphones around the country. In 2020, the release of his critically acclaimed Frequency album followed shortly after by his crowning as the youngest Poet Laureate in California capitol history. In 2021, Defeye was listed by Sacramento Magazine as one of the city’s 100 business leaders and nominated to receive an honorary doctorate from CSUS. In 2022, he joined the ranks of some of the most celebrated poets in the country as an Academy of American Poets fellow and brought Sacramento Poetry Day (October 26th) to life creating a locally sourced curriculum, collection, and contest and bringing it to over 250,000 youth in the Sacramento area. In 2023, these efforts earned him a key to the city making him one of the city’s youngest and only artist recipients of the honor.

From Sacramento to Staten Island and SXSW, Andru Defeye served as the Director of Communications for Sol Collective from 2009-2020. In 2014 Defeye founded Zero Forbidden Goals, a support system for creatives dedicated to innovating arts equity, experiences, and education. ZFG’s guerrilla art activations including National Guerrilla Poetry Month, Chainlink Poetry, The Intersection, and The First Church of Poetry have been covered and recreated around the globe.