Chicon Street Poets strives to create spaces that are welcoming and safe for our entire community.

At our events you should feel comfortable expressing yourself. Should anything happen that makes you feel unsafe, unwelcome, or simply not eager to return, please speak to a CSP organizer. We’ll identify ourselves at each event to make us easy to find, and you can always reach out on social media or via email at chiconstreetpoets@gmail.com if you don’t feel comfortable speaking to us in the moment. We want you to be here and will take prompt, confidential action to ensure your safety.

The kind of space we are striving to create for ourselves, our attendees and our readers

We strive to create safe, inclusive spaces where people can share their work, grow as writers, and develop collaborative relationships with other writers in the Austin community.

We strive to create events where attendees cant learn more about writing and hear the myriad voices that make up the fabric of our community.

What we expect of ourselves and our attendees

• We will not tolerate bigotry or hate speech in any form, including sexism, queerphobia, transphobia, abelism or racism, in performances or interactions.
• We will not tolerate aggressive behaviors from or toward any attendee or our organizers.
• We expect all who attend and organize CSP events to honor participant boundaries.
• We expect who attend and organize CSP events to respect our readers by staying quiet during readings and being mindful of the 5-minute time limit for readings at open mics.

What we will do if individuals violate these expectations

• We will speak with the individual who is in violation of these expectations and give an initial warning.
• If the behavior occurs again, we will ask the individual to leave the event immediately, and not to attend CSP events for a period of six months.
• If the individual attends before the end of the six month period, we have the right to ask them to leave the premises and, as a last resort, call for police intervention if we have no other alternatives to ensure the safety of our attendees and organizers.

What to do if you feel unsafe at any CSP event

• Come find a CSP admin and let them know what’s going on. We’ll do everything in our power to safely and quietly address the situation. 
• Reach out to us via social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) or email us at chiconstreetpoets@gmail.com to let us know what happened.