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RICHLAND – Poets are invited to share their creativity at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 2, at the free, public Open Mic Poetry Reading Night in the East Building auditorium at WSU Tri-Cities.
“We have had performance poets and hip-hop poets, cowboy poets, rhyming or free verse poets, even chanting poets,” said Leonard Orr, WSU Tri-Cities academic director of the College of Liberal Arts, an English professor, published poet and host of the monthly open mic events.
“We’ve had poets who are in their 80s, fifth-graders, WSU students of all ages, and people of all backgrounds and interests as both poets and supporters,” he said.
A sign-up sheet is passed around at the start of the event, and each person who signs up is invited to the microphone to read an original poem, preferably no longer than 1 1/2 pages. If time allows, there will be a second or third round of poetry.
“An open mic is an opportunity for poets to try out new works and get an immediate response – normally applause – as well as appropriate laughs or gasps or sighs,” Orr said. “We get people whose poems have been published and we get people who just wrote their first poem last week.”
Open Mic Poetry Reading Nights are held on the first Tuesday every month as part of the WSU Tri-Cities Liberal Arts Season of Events. The next open mic is Dec. 7. Find more event information here.