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?

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.

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...

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.

Writers know how important it is to use language to show the reader what a character is feeling and thinking in a story. Beyond dialogue and outright exposition, writers have other literary tools to achieve this goal. Let’s zoom in on one of those tools: stream of consciousness.

The city forgets, but the bricks remember, lungs filled with the dust of another man’s wealth. Your laughter dissolved into smoke each September.

I wrote this like Psalms etched in the sand, A message from the soul, so I hope you’ll understand. I used to marvel at your magic like Strange with the hands, Now your spells feel hollow, generic, and bland.