NIGHTJAR: Arriel Vinson

Doors at 6:30 p.m., Reading at 7 p.m. Featured Poet: Arriel Vinson Open mic prompt: To be announced… Read a poem or short piece that is 317 words maximum, and challenge yourself to share new work! About the Featured Poet: Arriel Vinson is a Midwesterner who writes about being young, Black, and in search of freedom. Her debut YA novel-in-verse, Under the Neon Lights, is a 2026 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award winner, a Reese’s Book Club LitUp selection, and a Junior Library Guild Gold Selection. Arriel earned her MFA in Fiction from Sarah Lawrence College and is a Tin House YA Scholar, Highlights Foundation scholarship recipient, and Walter Grant recipient. Her sophomore novel, If This World Were Mine, is forthcoming on January 26, 2027. You can connect with her on social media at @arriwrites and find her work at arriwrites.com. _ NIGHTJAR creates an inclusive space for all by bringing together spoken-word performers and page-based poets writing in narrative, lyric, and experimental forms. Every third Wednesday, C.S. Carrier and Michelle Niemann host a reading and invite audience members to share their own poetic responses. _ Photo by Reece Taylor Williams