Open Mic, Open Soul

There's a first time for everything, and last night was my first Open Mic event.

"Woman, wo-man, whooooaaa man."

To reveal your soul takes a certain kind of courage.

The Leopard hosted us last night in their rather intimate tastefully refurbished room-off-to-the-side (next to the bathrooms), where Tim, my friend and founder of Doncaster Writers' Group, somehow secured a mic and an amp, and away we went. We had poets local to Doncaster, a poet from Poland, and we had some friendly folks from the Rotherham Writers' Group get up and read out their hearts' deepest secrets. It was quite impressive, and nice to know that there are people out there that need to write and have their voices heard.

Names were scribbled on little bits paper that went folded into a pint glass. If your name was drawn out, it was your turn.

I even got up and read out two of my poems which you can find here. Working a microphone is tricky business. But I got there in the end. And then, I somehow summoned up the courage to stand up again and recite a few lines from Philip Schultz's "Pumpernickel," which I thought I'd memorized but missed a few lines off and so I'm not even sure it made any sense. But the applause was encouraging.

All in all we might have had around 15 or so people, which is quite a small turn-out, however this was our very first meeting. One of the guys from the Rotherham Writers' Group said that their first go around they had about 15 people as well the first time, and now it's grown to 55, and it takes over the entire pub, so really the sky is the limit!

I felt like I was at university again, as an undergrad, learning about other poets and people who like to talk literary art. I came away with a book of poetry, some suggestions for other poetry that relates to the ones of my own that I read out, as well as email addresses of a few of the attendees.

All in all it was a lovely evening, and a great way to meet other writers in and around Doncaster.

The Leopard will host the Doncaster Open Mic Event the last Friday of every month, from 7:30 pm -10 pm. If you are in town, please drop by! There is no pressure to read, but if you do, you will be happy you did. Your name could be the next one drawn out of the pint glass, where an open floor, a mic, and destiny await.

Enjoy your Saturday, Loyal Reader!