Because every word matters.
Bring your poems, your curiosity, and yourself. Our adult open mics, workshops, and performances make room for new voices and longtime community members.
Monday Night
Open Mic
Free adult open mics. Poetry, music, and care-centered community. All experience levels welcome.
First three Mondays each month
Check-in 7:30 PM · Show 8-10 PM
The VORTEX · 2307 Manor Road, Austin
RSVP and performer sign-ups are on CrowdWork. Early sign-ups and limited show-day spots are available.
Expect rotating features, Poesía Cada.Palabra, and Girls, Gays, and They’s nights. Check each listing for the format and latest details.
Presented with The VORTEX. Gatherings take place across its campus, outdoors or inside depending on the program and weather. Food and drinks are available.
Our Productions
every.Word Poetry produces curated spoken word showcases that bring live poetry to the stage. Presented in theaters and performance venues across Austin, these events highlight the work of poets, musicians, and multidisciplinary artists through staged productions.
All productions are paid opportunities. Poet selection is curated by the Artistic Team. Rehearsal processes vary based on the scope of the production.
Tickets are offered on a sliding scale to keep performances accessible while supporting artist pay and production costs.
Curated Artist Lineups
Artists are thoughtfully selected through a combination of submissions, auditions, and direct invitations by the Artistic Team, ensuring intentional, resonant, and community-rooted performances.
Paid Opportunities for Artists
All featured artists are compensated for their work, with a commitment to equity and sustainability as funding allows.
Flexible Rehearsal Process
Rehearsals are designed to match the scope and needs of each production, from one-night showcases to full-length staged works.
Collaborative Production Design
Each showcase includes intentional lighting, sound, and visual elements that bring poetry to life on stage.
Sliding Scale Ticketing
Shows are priced on a sliding scale to keep them accessible to the community while supporting artist pay and production costs.
Rooted in Community
Our productions foster connection, building bridges between artists and audiences, and offering space for dialogue, celebration, and reflection.
Past Production
Lines for Liberation
Written and performed by Michael Hatcher, Jasmine Games, Dre' Jackson, & Ms. Trin-I-Tee
Creative Leadership by Florinda Bryant, Dr. Eva Margarita, & Aaliyah Jenkins
February 26th – March 1st, 2026 on the Eloise Stage at The VORTEX
every.Word Poetry invites the public to their Black History Month spoken word poetry experience, Lines for Liberation. Four poets are taken on a journey towards freedom, discovering what a future for Black lives looks like and how they might liberate themselves in order to be transported to a time co-crafted by these literary seers.
The poets bring the audience to the future through the lens of Black folks. It is not a story so much as a collective dream and shared imagination of liberation that persists through time. Though only an ensemble of four, the poets work to encapsulate and paint a picture of Black life in space beyond what can be easily conceptualized, pinpointing shared fears and hopes when thinking beyond the present. They are the past, present, and future, always.
Past Production
The Blasphemy of a Good Bath
Written and performed by Michael Hatcher
every.Word Poetry presented The Blasphemy of a Good Bath, a new spoken word performance by Michael Hatcher exploring care, cleansing, and memory. This intimate, in-progress showcase ran October 23–26 on the Eloise Stage at The VORTEX in Austin, TX.
Each night opened with a curated showcase of poets, musicians, and multidisciplinary artists selected by the Artistic Team. Invited artists were chosen based on demonstrated talent, community impact, reliability, and thematic alignment with the work.
Past Production
Something in Me About the Ground
Written and performed by Jasmine Games
Directed by Dr. Eva Margarita
Presented on September 23rd, 2024, on the Garden Stage at The VORTEX, Something In Me About the Ground was an early showing of Jasmine Games’ debut choreopoem. This intimate, multidisciplinary work explored ancestral memory, generational resilience, and the rituals that ground us in everyday life.
The piece was featured as part of our regularly scheduled every.Word Poetry Open Mic, offering audiences a first look at a project in development and bridging the gap between community gathering and theatrical performance.
Something In Me About the Ground is currently in development, with plans to premiere as a fully produced, evening-length show in 2027.