Sun Poet’s Society is a not-for-profit
organization started by Rod C. Stryker 6 years ago.

In 1995, Sun Poet's Society started in a small
coffeehouse (now closed) called Cafe Gaea. Brooke
Mazella (the owner) approached Rod C. Stryker and
asked him to take over a poetry reading on Thursdays.
He decided to try his hand at it and when
she asked what he wanted to name the open-mic reading,
he thought of the magazine he was publishing at
the time called the Sun Poetic Times (est. 1994)
and chose Sun Poet's Society. It lasted about
9 months before Cafe Gaea closed. Rod didn't
want SPS to fold like many other poetry venues
in San Antonio, so he decided to move the whole
venue to Java Junction (now called Freedom Health Clinic).
Unfortunately, Java Junction had a short life span
as well and Coffeeshop after coffeeshop closed,
but Rod was determined to keep the SPS
alive so he kept moving the venue.

Currently we're having our weekly open-mic readings at
Barnes and Noble (321 N.W. Loop 410, Suite 104, across
from North Star Mall, San Antonio, Texas).

Since it's humble beginnings, the Sun Poet's Society
now sponsors events in town that include, Writer's
Take a Hike (a hiking workshop) as well as a
weekly writers workshop called Sun Poet’s Society
Writers Workshop hosted by Doc. We routinely
speak at local schools (i.e. Luther Burbank High School,
Lanier H.S., McCollum H.S. and Cooper Middle School).
We've had interviews by San Antonio Current,
articles in the Mesquite Review, and we were
awarded the S.A. Current's Best Performance Art Event of 1998.
We've also traveled to the Texas Bookfest (98-99),
the Austin International Poetry Festival and
Rod had a successful tour in Bristol, England
for the 2nd annual Bristol International Poetry
Festival as well as the 1st annual Southampton International
Poetry Festival. And in 2 years, we're planning to
have a permanent home at Sun Community - an artists
and writers institute/retreat nestled between
San Antonio and Austin in the Hill Country.

What Keeps the Sun Poet’s Society going...

-Desire to keep the spoken word alive. I recently
stumbled on the MSN's website and under their Local
Guides listings of San Antonio arts events,
the Literate Lizard Writer's Workshop was
listed(now defunct). Jennifer Wehunt reviewed Calcutta
Coffeehouse (where the workshop was held) and referred
to the Sun Poets as "knights of serious spoken-word,"
I was pleasantly surprised, but decided that was what
keeps the Sun Poets going, our reason for existence:
knights of serious spoken word, champions
for writers and artists the world over. We can do no less.

Sun Poet's Society
Events

The Sun Poet's Society, along with the
Sun Poetic Times, sponsors several weekly poetry
events in San Antonio:

Sun Poet's Society Open-Mic Poetry Readings
hosted by Rod C. Stryker
Barnes & Noble
321 N.W. Loop 410, Suite 104
(across from North Star Mall)
TUESDAYS, 7pm to 9pm

Sun Poet’s Society Writers Workshop
hosted by Doc
Barnes & Noble
321 N.W. Loop 410, Suite 104
(across from North Star Mall)
THURSDAYS, 7pm to 9pm

Current events sponsored by the SPS as
they happen will be posted here.

The Sun Poets are also regularly featured guest
speakers at several area schools, and attend events
statewide as well, including the Austin International
Poetry Festival and the Texas BookFest.
If you are interested in becoming an official
Sun Poet's Society Member, please contact Rod C. Stryker,
Chairman(email on first page) Membership is
free and open to anyone interested in supporting our
writers’ and artists’ community, locally and internationally.

**Sun Poet's Society events are open to anyone and
membership is not required to attend.**