Poet Crystal Simone Smith will read from her newest collection Runagate: Songs of the Freedom Bound at Historic Stagville. This free public reading will be outdoors on the grounds of Horton Grove, beside the historic slave dwellings. The reading will be followed by an author Q and A and book signing.
Smith's poetry reimagines the experiences of enslaved and formerly enslaved persons in a stark and chilling response to the archives of chattel slavery: bills of sale, interviews, narratives, and fugitive runaway ads. Embodying the aesthetics and Japanese poetic forms haiku and tanka, her poems bear witness to the brutal and horrifying treatment of enslaved people and contrast their humanity with the inhumanity of their enslavers.
In these poems, fugitive persons evade slave patrol hounds by climbing magnolia trees, use the cover of night and the detritus of a shipwreck to swim to freedom, and find temporary refuge in a cabin where a woman offers bread and water. Throughout, Smith poignantly envisions their flights to freedom—passages that were fueled by love, hope, and impossible dreams. She unceasingly gives voice to those who found courage in both bondage and freedom.
Know Before You Go
- Parking is in a grass lot off of Jock Road.
- This program includes walking less than 100 yards over uneven grass or gravel to reach the reading location.
- In case of rain or inclement weather, the program will be moved into the visitors center at 5828 Old Oxford Highway.
- Chairs will be provided for attendees.
About the Author
Crystal Simone Smith is a poet, indie-publisher, and educator. She is the author of Dark Testament (Henry Holt, 2023) and Runagate: Songs of the Freedom Bound (Duke University Press, 2025). She also authored three poetry chapbooks.
Her latest collection of haiku, Ebbing Shore, won the Haiku Foundation Touchstone Distinguished Book Award (2022). Her work has appeared in numerous journals including Prairie Schooner, POETRY Magazine, Crab Orchard Review, Frogpond, and Modern Haiku. Smith teaches writing in the Thompson Writing Program at Duke University.