This is WHQR Presents — where we platform creators from around the region. Today’s show, recorded to celebrate April as National Poetry Month, is From a Poet’s Point of View — from Speak Ya Peace NC, a poetry collective and platform that facilitates art and conversations about issues stemming from racism and other forms of oppression and discrimination.

This week, WHQR’s Arts Reporter Demia Avery interviews comedian Meghan Cook. In this excerpt, she talks about overcoming social anxiety, her beginnings in stand-up comedy, and how she'd encourage others to give the art form a try at Dead Crow Comedy in downtown Wilmington.