Inter|Act Open Mic Featuring Inter|Act Collective Members

Are you ready to get your poetry on? Join us on January 20, 2026 at Satori Arts for Inter|Act, a FREE shared words open mic night, from 7-9 pm, with featured poets from the Inter|Act Collective. Come get to know the works of the Inter|Act collective who, along with the support of SATORI produce these events. We’ll have a variety of readings from our collective members. About the collective: We believe that the power of spoken word lies in its ability to connect, inspire, and ignite change. Our collective is a safe, inclusive, and vibrant space where wordsmiths of all backgrounds can come together to share their voices and celebrate the art of storytelling. Readers include: Jeannine Black, Kimberley Bermender, David Sullivan, Taylor Gorman, Tom Brady, Peggy Simmons, Jessie Marie Jeannine Black: Poet, memoirist, English teacher, new teacher mentor, green spaces non-profitess. Lover of language, travel & culture. No chapbooks, no paper trail: just happy to be in a room full of risk takers. Kimberley Bermender: Poet, photographer, teacher, creative wanderer. Kimberley speaks in rhyme and rhythm that weave into story. They conjure creativity in classrooms, jails, on paper and in open mics—wherever words and images yearn to come alive. David Sullivan: David Allen Sullivan is the former poet laureate of Santa Cruz county. His books include: Strong-Armed Angels, Every Seed of the Pomegranate, Bombs Have Not Breakfasted Yet, Black Ice, Take Wing, Salt Pruning, and Black Butterflies Over Baghdad. He teaches at Cabrillo College, where he edits the Porter Gulch Review with his students, lives in Santa Cruz with his family, and his website is: https://dasulliv1.wixsite.com/website-1. Taylor Gorman: Taylor Gorman is a Pushcart-nominated poet whose work has been featured in The New Orleans Review, The Cincinnati Review, and The Red Wheelbarrow. He lives in Santa Cruz, CA with his cats. Jesse Marie: Jessie Marie is a Bay Area–rooted spoken word artist/poet, musician, photographer, and community organizer whose work centers access, healing, and collective creativity. She began performing in the San Francisco and Berkeley arts scenes around 2005 and has spent years cultivating spaces where expression and belonging intersect. Working across poetry, music, photography, painting, and digital media, Jessie builds experiences that invite people into their creative capacity. In 2021, she founded Mic Drop!, a collaborative, poet-led community open mic rooted in care and openness. She also regularly comes alongside other creative teams in Santa Cruz, supporting local organizations and open mics, including InterAct. Based in Santa Cruz, California, Jessie continues to practice art as a living devotion—essential, connective, and alive. Peggy Simmons: Peggy Simmons is a writer and facilitator who has spent much of her career elevating and amplifying others’ voices—including incarcerated teens and people experiencing poverty—and bringing people from very different walks of life together. She loves writing in community, where difference becomes a source of connection and we learn from one another in the most authentic, indirect, and surprising ways. Tom Brady: Tom Brady started making performance as art back in 1972. He has performed in Milano Italy, New York at Franklin Furnace and PS1; Chicago, Links Hall and SiteLess; St. Louis, COCA, Mad Art Gallery, Laumeier Sculpture Park, Forest Park; San Francisco at odc theater and most recently in Santa Cruz, CA. Come share your spoken word work or poetry with the community, or come out to support our local readers! Sign up to read starting at 6:30 pm (sign up closes at 7 pm). Limited sign-ups and seating. For more information, visit https://www.satoriarts.org/s-projects-side-by-side. 1st and 3rd Tuesdays. Free. Satori Arts, 815 Almar, #9, Santa Cruz (warehouse building near the back, follow signs)

Event Links

Website: https://go.evvnt.com/3430309-0

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