Bismarck native Shankles this week's featured poet

Bismarck native Syler Shankles will be this week's feature for Wednesday Night Poetry at Kollective Coffee+Tea, 110 Central Ave.

The regular open mic session for all poets will begin at 6:30 p.m. Shankles will perform at 7 p.m. followed by another open mic. Admission is free and open to all ages.

A 2014 graduate of Bismarck High School, Shankles said in a news release he didn't start writing poetry until after graduation. "When it was being forced on me I didn't enjoy it," he said. "But when I started writing for me I found it to be a terrific release. At first, everything I wrote was very personal and I felt really insecure about it. But when I started sharing it with other people I fell in love with doing it."

Shankles was 19 when he first started performing his poetry in 2016 at Wednesday Night Poetry. "When he stepped up to the microphone the first time Skyler said he never did anything like this before and he was nervous. Then he put on a performance that resulted in a standing ovation," WNP host Bud Kenny said in the release.

The first poem he wrote was titled "Run Forest, Run," which is about coming out as gay in a small town. "I love Bismarck, but it's not a comfortable place for a young gay man," he said. "Too often in high school creativity is suppressed because somebody is different that all the rest of the kids."

After living in Dallas for more than a year, Shankles recently moved back to Arkansas. Prior to going to Texas, he majored in Mass Media and Dance at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia. "I hope to put the two together to help others realize it's all right to be weird."

Email [email protected] for more information.