Found Poets! is about the entertainment of the spirit through performance poetry. From our development program grads to nationally acclaimed headliners, Found Poets! is a challenging, committed poetry community dedicated to hosting a good night out.
(Headliner)
Mr Witz
Mr Witz, born out of Brooklyn and now residing in Charlotte, has been performing for large and intimate audiences since 2013. He has featured at venues around the country and competed in numerous competitions. Mr Witz has 11 published solo projects, is a 4 time member of (R.D.M) Respect Da Mic Poetry Slam Team, a member of The Honeydrippers Poetry Collective, The Gray Beards of Poetry and is currently the president of (A.R.T.) Ain’t Right Tribe, an influential poetry collective hosting live performances on the Instagram platform. He hosts Who Naked Up In Here Open Mic Wednesday nights live on Zoom app.
IG: @mrwitzthepoet
(Openers)
Bernice Espinoza
“Bere” Espinoza is a civil rights activist with a lifelong dedication to social justice. Her poetry has been featured in Palabra by Teatro Campesino and I Love Immigrants at San Jose City College.
IG: @xochitlacatl_poeticjustice
Original Giotis
Giotis is a culture writer and poet. His wide-ranging interviews and explorations are published in The SUB_SCRIBE Newsletter. He published the poetry collection Daybreak (FMRL Press, 2019), and the chapbooks Freeway and Blew. Giotis’ next book is in the oven.
IG: @originalgiotis
The SUB_SCRIBE Newsletter
Ernesto M. Garay
Ernesto M. Garay is the author of a poetry collection, Reverberating Voices (Flowersong Press, 2022). Garay was LA Revista Bilingüe: La Voz’s Person of the Month in Sonoma County for March 2020, and a Sonoma County Discovered Award Recipient in Literary Arts. He is Ethnic Studies faculty at Sierra College.
Grayson Thompson
Grayson Thompson [he/him], a Black, Jamaican-American, queer transgender poet and therapist, won Foglifter Press’s 2024 Start A Riot! Chapbook Prize (June 2025) and Write Bloody Publishing’s 2024 Jack McCarthy Book Prize (September 2025) for Sand Bodied Florida Boy.
IG: @graysonwritespoems
www.graysonwritespoems.com
Gifted
Gifted is a catalyst to expand interest and access to poetry through reading, writing, speaking, and fostering the love of language. She has hosted SpokenWord Soul for 16 years, at the legendary Greenwich in Cincinnati.
IG: @giftedjohnsonwilkinson
www.giftedpoetry.com
Maxine Flasher-Düzgüneş
Maxine Flasher-Düzgüneş is a dancer,
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Found Poets! is about the entertainment of the spirit through performance poetry. From our development program grads to nationally acclaimed headliners, Found Poets! is a challenging, committed poetry community dedicated to hosting a good night out.
(Headliner)
Mr Witz
Mr Witz, born out of Brooklyn and now residing in Charlotte, has been performing for large and intimate audiences since 2013. He has featured at venues around the country and competed in numerous competitions. Mr Witz has 11 published solo projects, is a 4 time member of (R.D.M) Respect Da Mic Poetry Slam Team, a member of The Honeydrippers Poetry Collective, The Gray Beards of Poetry and is currently the president of (A.R.T.) Ain’t Right Tribe, an influential poetry collective hosting live performances on the Instagram platform. He hosts Who Naked Up In Here Open Mic Wednesday nights live on Zoom app.
IG: @mrwitzthepoet
(Openers)
Bernice Espinoza
“Bere” Espinoza is a civil rights activist with a lifelong dedication to social justice. Her poetry has been featured in Palabra by Teatro Campesino and I Love Immigrants at San Jose City College.
IG: @xochitlacatl_poeticjustice
Original Giotis
Giotis is a culture writer and poet. His wide-ranging interviews and explorations are published in The SUB_SCRIBE Newsletter. He published the poetry collection Daybreak (FMRL Press, 2019), and the chapbooks Freeway and Blew. Giotis’ next book is in the oven.
IG: @originalgiotis
The SUB_SCRIBE Newsletter
Ernesto M. Garay
Ernesto M. Garay is the author of a poetry collection, Reverberating Voices (Flowersong Press, 2022). Garay was LA Revista Bilingüe: La Voz’s Person of the Month in Sonoma County for March 2020, and a Sonoma County Discovered Award Recipient in Literary Arts. He is Ethnic Studies faculty at Sierra College.
Grayson Thompson
Grayson Thompson [he/him], a Black, Jamaican-American, queer transgender poet and therapist, won Foglifter Press’s 2024 Start A Riot! Chapbook Prize (June 2025) and Write Bloody Publishing’s 2024 Jack McCarthy Book Prize (September 2025) for Sand Bodied Florida Boy.
IG: @graysonwritespoems
www.graysonwritespoems.com
Gifted
Gifted is a catalyst to expand interest and access to poetry through reading, writing, speaking, and fostering the love of language. She has hosted SpokenWord Soul for 16 years, at the legendary Greenwich in Cincinnati.
IG: @giftedjohnsonwilkinson
www.giftedpoetry.com
Maxine Flasher-Düzgüneş
Maxine Flasher-Düzgüneş is a dancer, filmmaker, and poet, and coordinator of Marin County’s first Youth Poet Laureate Program. She is the author of heart-shaped box, a poetry chapbook from Ghost City Press (2022), and through Eileeen, a young-adult novella from VerbalEyze Press (2020).
IG: @poeticabythebay
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