I love poetry. I first began experimenting with writing poetry in middle school, and though I hope my skills have improved in the decade since, my admiration for this form has never changed. Prior to last semester, I rarely ever shared my work with others. As an assistant for my school’s English Department, I’ve been part of a team organizing monthly literary open mics on campus. Having these events has been a wonderful opportunity to allow myself to grow more comfortable with sharing my poetry.
Once a month, a group of students get together and spend an hour or so sharing our original poetry and prose, as well as our favorite pieces from other authors. We have heard Shakespeare, Poe, and Dickinson. There has been a showcase of the wonderful work from our peers. We listen to our favorite songs and eat chocolate chip cookies, and try not to let the cold air bother us too much.
The best part about our on-campus open mics is the sense of community we have created with it. We have our regular participants, and getting the chance to get together with them once a month to share new pieces is very special. We also try our best to keep the atmosphere casual and light. We do not want people to hear ‘literary open mic’ and imagine a stuffy group of English majors gathered around reading Shakespeare. Less Dead Poets Society, more just a group of friends hanging out. We encourage students from all majors to attend, serve hot chocolate, and crack jokes throughout the night. At our last open mic, we had a few newcomers who commented on how welcomed and comfortable they felt. For us who organized it, it made us feel wonderful to know that more on-campus writers feel like they have a place to share their skills.
When it comes to my own writing, I’ve always hesitated to share it with other people. Sometimes I write about personal experiences that are hard to share, and other times I simply fear that it isn’t good enough. Once I got to college, however, I quickly started to learn how to let those fears go. I’ve been in many creative writing courses since, and have had the opportunity to workshop my pieces with my peers. When I’m amongst other writers, I now feel much more comfortable reading and talking about my own work. I know that my writing skills are not perfect — no one’s are. Now, asking others for their opinions and getting feedback is a helpful tool that I could not go without.
Sometimes, when I walk up to the microphone, I can still feel nerves in the pit of my stomach and I’m still afraid that no one will find my work good. But when I look out to the crowd of friends and other students, it all melts away. It feels great to hear praise and criticisms from my fellow writers, and most importantly at the end of the day, it’s fun. I look forward to hearing everyone’s work every month, and to our tradition of ending each night with Robert Frost’s “Birches.” I love the smiles as we say “Earth’s the right place for love: I don’t know where it’s likely to go better,” because nothing can capture our joy better than that.