Indy’s literary scene is booming thanks to the poets who are working to build community hubs within the city.
As National Poetry Month comes to an end, we’ve rounded up a list of local poets for you to get to know, read and learn alongside.
Caroline Flott
If you’ve felt informed about Indy’s literary events in the last year, you likely have Caroline Flott to thank. Known on Instagram as @lame.poetry, Flott combs through the web and shares a weekly list of events.
In their own writing, Flott takes inspiration from the beat poets to write about their experiences with queerness, religion and trauma. Along with working on their first chapbook, “Misplaced Altars,” Flott has banded together with other local poets to form Indy Untitled, a poetry collective that hosts a monthly workshop and open mic at Indy Reads.
Flott encourages writers and non-writers alike to attend open mics. “You don’t have to read,” they said. “That’s a huge misconception. If you just go and show up, it’s enough.”
Favorite poets: Emily Dickinson, Sylvia Thomas, Januarie York
Read their work: “Addiction Aerobics (A.A.)”
Tony Spataro
Tony Spataro doesn’t claim the typical writer’s literary lineage, citing rock musicians and lyricists like Eddie Vedder and Against Me! as some of his greatest sources of inspiration. Spataro’s work fuses punk rock lyricism with explorations of anxiety and fatherhood. His first book, My. Mind. Races., came out in 2021.
After attending Irving Theater’s open mic over a year ago, Spataro created Indy Untitled alongside Flott and others. He hopes that as Indy Untitled grows, more writers find community like he has. “I want to be part of a safe space that helps writers share their stories,” Spataro said.
Favorite poets: Charles Bukowski, Gil Scott-Heron and Kurt Cobain
Read his work: “Make Your Selection”
Autumn Pryor
What does it mean to become a better writer? That’s what Autumn Pryor asks while planning her monthly queer writers group, Chrysalis. She teamed up with Dream Palace Books, 111 E. 16th St., to create a space dedicated to queer writers who meet to strengthen their writing practice.
Chrysalis has evolved to include informal discussions, writing prompts and exercises, and newfound friendships. “I want us to gain a better understanding of our own art,” Pryor said. In her poetry, Pryor addresses transphobia, capitalism, imperialism and racism, as well as themes of love and joy.
Favorite poets: June Jordan, Tracy K. Smith, J. Jennifer Espinoza
Read her work: “View from the Factory Floor”
C.S. Carrier
Chris Carrier wrote his first poem on his school desk in algebra class. When he saw that another student had responded to it the next day, he decided to never stop writing. Under the name C.S. Carrier, he uses poetry to explore ecology, humans’ relationships to the world and each other and social issues.
In 2023, Carrier started NIGHTJAR, a reading series at the Tube Factory Artspace, alongside Michelle Niemann. At NIGHTJAR, after the featured reader performs, the open mic portion of the night begins with writers responding to a prompt inspired by the featured poet’s work.
Favorite poets: Walt Whitman, Tomaž Šalamun
Read his work: “Reckoning”
Corey Ewing
If you hear the word “VOCAB” and don’t think of the White Rabbit Cabaret, you’re missing out on one of Indy’s leading open mics for QTBIPOC+ artists, hosted by Corey Ewing and Januarie York. “We all yearned for a cathartic space, a home, and having that space taken away for so long during the pandemic was hard,” Ewing said.
He began engaging with poetry through spoken word and slam performances. His passion has expanded to include music, culture and community. His poetry focuses on familial relations and dynamics, and environmental issues.
He’s working on a photography project that centers people of color in recreations of famous vinyl album covers, and he is an artist at work with Kheprw and the Herbert Simon Family Foundation.
Favorite writer: Maurice Broaddus
Listen to his work: “Wakanda”
Adam Henze
In poetry, volta is defined as a turn of thought. In Indianapolis, it’s defined as Ujamaa Community Bookstore’s family-friendly open mic for poets from every walk of life. Run by Adam Henze of Flanner House, Volta offers writers a space to perform.
“It’s more like a lab than a place to perform finished work,” Henze said. “We want readers to be curious and try new things.”
Henze’s poetry revitalizes the mundane through small details and explores cultural events and institutions in Indianapolis — he’s even written commissioned poetry for Eskenazi Health and served as the 2016 Official Poet of the Indy 500.
Favorite poets: Etheridge Knight, Patricia Smith
Read his work: “For Those Who Love Fast, Loud Things”
Devon Ginn
Poetry has made Devon Ginn more mindful. Ginn, a performance poet and director of inclusion & community partnerships at the Indianapolis Repertory Theatre, has fused poetry with sound meditation, using poetic mantras in his sound baths.
Ginn hosts sound meditation classes at Invoke Yoga Studio, Aura Self and Soul Care and Belmont Beach. Their creative practice has been shaped by the Harlem Renaissance Movement as well as the local poetry scene.
“I was reading the works of Audre Lorde and Langston Hughes while deepening my mindfulness practice in 2015,” Ginn said, “which caused them to combine both.”
Ginn, who previously ran the Iconoclast open mic, serves on the boards of the Indiana Writers Center and the BlackSpace Urbanist Collective.
Favorite poets: Audre Lorde, Mari Evans, Chantel Massey
Read his work: “Black in the Middle: An Anthology of the Black Midwest”
Kelsey Simpson
When you see Kelsey Simpson, ask her for a zine — she always has some in her purse. Simpson, creator of Gluestick Zine Fest, writes poetry and zines that reflect the aesthetic details she sees in Indianapolis every day. After visiting zine fests in other cities, Simpson decided to bring the party to Indianapolis, creating Gluestick in 2016.
Gluestick hosts a poetry open mic (Anaphora), a zine workshop (Counterpack Erratum), and publishes zines through their imprint, Railroad City Press. For 2024, Simpson and the Gluestick team are focused on creating Railroad City Bookmobile, a transformed RV that will serve as the focal point for programming.
Favorite poets: Sylvia Plath, Patti Smith, Henry Rollins
Meet her: Visit Simpson at Gluestick’s transformed Anaphora Poetry & Publishing Conference on June 29.
Paige Wyatt
Paige Wyatt co-founded the magazine Dogwood Alchemy, as well as Heartland Society of Women Writers, with others as a way to promote quirky writing as well as women and nonbinary writers. In her poetry, Wyatt focuses on themes of romance, loss, activism and queer identity.
She’s also part of Gluestick Zine Fest. Her favorite part of it all? “The way people support and empower newcomers,” Wyatt said. “There is so much love in the Indianapolis poetry community.”
Favorite poets: Bryce Berkowitz, Olivia Gatwood, Matt Norris
Read her work: “April 4, 1969”
Emily Mellentine
When Emily Mellentine faces an obstacle, she thinks to herself, “at least it can become good writing material!” Her poetry centers on hope and resilience, along with the painful, dark parts of life. She holds space for other women and nonbinary writers in her monthly Writings From Her Corner sessions, where writers can connect, read, and write together at various coffee shops and bookstores.
Favorite poets: Margaret Atwood, Jane Austen, Sylvia Plath
Read her work: “Her Sweet Bitter Truths”