At the final Bards & Brews of 2016, the spotlight will shine on female spoken word artists as the Birmingham Public Library’s spoken word poetry/craft beer event tasting goes on the road this week to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. with light refreshments and craft beer as musical guest Josh Wheeler performs. Poetry begins to flow at 7:00 p.m. with Brian “Voice Porter” Hawkins serving as host. Beer will be provided by Cahaba Brewing Company and SweetWater Brewing Company.

Closing out its fifth year, Bards & Brews has been a popular roving poetry fest and craft beer tasting event at venues such as the Central Library, Avondale Regional Branch Library, Hoover Library, Vestavia Hills Library, Ruffner Mountain, and others. Since its inauguration, Emcee Brian “Voice Porter” Hawkins has deftly guided both novice and veteran poets through an evening of verse with topics that run the gamut from romantic relationships to the local political scene.

For more information, call 205-226-3670 or e-mail ccampbell@bham.al.us, or visit online at Bards & https://www.facebook.com/BardsandBrews, or bplonline.org/bardsbrews.

Bards & Brews is made possible by grants from the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.