RICHLAND — Poets, from the shy to the bold, are invited to share their creativity Feb. 4 at Open Mic Poetry Reading Night at WSU Tri-Cities.
The Open Mic is at 7:30 p.m. in the East Building Auditorium at the Tri-Cities campus. Admission is free and open to the public.
“We have had performance poets, 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. “We 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.”
Orr is also an English professor, published poet and host of the monthly Open Mic events.
A sign-up sheet will be passed around when the event starts. Each person who signs up is invited to the microphone to read an original poem — preferably no longer than 1-1/2 pages. As 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, 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.”
The Open Mic Poetry Reading Nights are part of the WSU Tri-Cities Liberal Arts Season, sponsored by the Richland Arts Commission in celebration of the 20th anniversary as a WSU campus.
For more information, visit www.tricity.wsu.edu/poetry.