Poet, musician, and teaching artist Dasan Ahanu took the time to answer Ink & Oak’s questions via email. He is a talented spoken word poet and integral to the local Durham poetry community. Let’s get into the influences behind his inspiring work and the vision he has for continuing that work in 2026.

Looking through the glass was like watching a silent movie in slow motion. It’s all a blur now. Was I seeing in color or in black and white?

Fiction is full of vivid examples of painstakingly crafted worlds that immerse the reader in a new place, time, and way of life. While worldbuilding is often viewed as part of sci-fi and fantasy, it’s hardly exclusive to those genres.

Ambiguity invites readers to draw their own conclusions by purposefully allowing space for the readers to interpret. This is sometimes mixed up with confusion, but a seasoned writer will deploy ambiguity strategically in a way that heightens the overall experience for the reader.

Dr. Amanda Bennett, the newly appointed Poet Laureate of Carrboro, NC, took the time to tell us about her work creating community with poetry. Her poetry centers themes of queer Black feminism and spirituality. We at Ink & Oak are honored she shared her insight with us and are excited to see how she combines poetry and community during her tenure.

Light frees the bastard night From migrants in their sentinel sleep, Hands without guides To the ready and the yoke for their wages, Any rough job, And they wake to the bondage of their freedom

Tell me what I owe when rain beats down on a calendar of old times and scatters the riches of our friendship as a body of habits comes to death having made no notice of our bond

Poetry has never been a one-size-fits-all art form. It stretches, bends, borrows, and reinvents itself, sometimes quietly and sometimes with a sense of rebellion. Beyond the sonnets and free verse many of us are well-acquainted with, there is a wide world of poetic forms that invite play, experimentation, and risk. Let’s explore 22 unique types of poems that move past the familiar and remind us why poetry remains one of the most inventive corners of the literary world.

Poet Bartholomew Barker graciously took the time to tell us at Ink & Oak more about his writing practice and involvement in the local literary scene. He lives in Hillsborough and is the author of the full-length collection, Wednesday Night Regular and a chapbook, Milkshakes and Chilidogs: and other food poems.

Recently, Robert Creekmore answered our questions via email. His writing mixes science fiction, horror, thriller and more against a backdrop of rural North Carolina locales. He can frequently be found at Moondog Meadery in Durham reading his latest work. Today we take a closer look at his first in a trilogy, The Prophet’s Debt.

Dialogue is one of the most powerful tools a writer has, and one of the easiest to misuse. It can pull readers deeper into a scene or quietly push them away. At its best, dialogue feels natural while doing intentional work behind the scenes. At its worst, it rambles, explains too much, or exists simply because silence feels uncomfortable.

The good news is that there is a publisher for every type of book. Each one comes with its own expectations, opportunities, and trade-offs. None of them are inherently “better” than the others; they simply serve different goals and writers.

Idiopathic, empathetic— Hyperventilating, still poetic. Scratching, Stripping, Clawing walls; Muted texts, unanswered calls. Echoes in a crowded room “I am trying,” never soon.

What a conversation  Little trading cards of Who we are  Passed like middle school notes, Small laughter across a table. A flicker, A passing recognition, I think I knew you once Or maybe I was just waiting to.

Treading, Heading on a course south of north gnawing on the marrow of a harrowing rebirth

The Women Who Raised Me 1. My grandmother is a half of a woman I love both halves, the one she is allowed and the one I will never know Think my grandparents love each other, or must have once...

Grab a cup of cocoa and get cozy while we take a stroll down candy cane lane to the intoxicating tune of carols and stop under an opportunely-placed sprig of mistletoe to discuss the finer points of Christmas story crafting.

Author K. Cardella took the time to answer Ink & Oak’s questions about her work via email recently. She writes dark romance and can be found at many local venues for readings and book signings. Let’s get into it with the author of The Blue Rose and The Black Lotus.

No matter where you are in your writing journey, resources, and free ones at that, are essential. They help you connect with other writers, join peer review groups, find free workshops near you, or even learn the ins and outs of submitting and publishing your work. Let’s explore some great resources both locally in the Triangle and beyond.

Generative AI platforms like ChatGPT are a hot-button issue for writers. There are many ethical reasons for this, but it has also brought writing craft and style debates. One question I have seen a lot in online forums is whether generative AI has ruined the em dash for writers because of how often (and how incorrectly) it’s used by these tools. Let’s take a deeper look at this debate and some potential considerations for future em dash use.