A Walk with Poetry

Sign up to take one of the guided poetry walks, or show up with a camping chair/blanket and settle in to listen to the headliner performances at the trailhead, or do both!

Guided Poetry Walk Schedule

● Group 1: 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM

● Group 2: 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM

● Group 3: 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM

● Group 4: 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM

FREE tickets required to participate

Mainstage Performances in the Pecan Grove

● 2:30 PM – 4:30 PM

No tickets are required for the mainstage performances. Bring your own blanket or camping chair.

Accessibility Information

The performances will be held in the Pecan Grove, a grassy area near the trailhead of the greenway and located adjacent to the parking lot and Sertoma Arts Center. The Pecan Grove has a paved sidewalk, but the entry point and the Pecan Grove itself can be rough terrain for a wheelchair/walker. There will be no seating in the pecan grove, so participants are encouraged to bring camping chairs or blankets.

The Poetry walk is approximately ½ mile long. The trail is paved but includes a long downhill stretch at the beginning, followed by a long uphill stretch for participants to climb back up at the end of the tour.

More about "A Walk with Poetry"

A Walk With Poetry is an immersive, community-centered arts experience created in celebration of National Poetry Month, designed to highlight and uplift the vibrant poetry community of Raleigh, North Carolina. Taking place on April 11, 2026, from 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM at Shelley Lake Park, the event invites attendees to slow down, reflect, and reconnect through spoken word poetry in a natural outdoor setting.

Set along a thoughtfully curated walking route, participants move through the park while encountering live poetry performances at designated stops, transforming the landscape into a living gallery of voices, stories, and expression. This experience intentionally centers Raleigh-based poets, showcasing the city’s rich diversity of voices across age, background, and artistic style, and offering a platform for both emerging and established artists.

Throughout the day, guests will engage with stationed poets along the walk, as well as featured performers (located at the Pecan Grove near the trail entrance) whose work anchors the experience and deepens the collective narrative of the event. Bring your own camping chair or blanket, and settle in to hear a lineup of impressive local poets.

The program culminates in a powerful headlining performance by Dasan Ahanu, an award-winning poet, playwright, cultural organizer, performing artist, and scholar. A Southern storyteller, Dasan uses poetry to deepen awareness of our social and cultural landscapes.

Designed to celebrate poetry as both an art form and a communal practice, A Walk With Poetry encourages mindfulness through movement, accessibility through outdoor performance, and connection through shared storytelling.

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Host or Publisher Raleigh Arts