Open Mics coming up: Re-Verb, Heartbroken
Poetry will be read, music enjoyed. Also, I'm leading a book discussion next month - on Ross Gay, poetry & gratitude - you're invited (Minneapolis only, sorry)
So, TruArtSpeaks, a local organization focused on Hip Hop Education, arts exhibition, and professional development for artists, community organizers, and other fabulous cultural types, is hosting the Re-Verb Open Mic every week on Thursdays, from 6 pm — 8 pm (CT), at Flava Coffee & Café in St. Paul.
I plan to be there for it every week, more or less, as often as my schedule allows it. Bringing along my folder of poems, in the event I get a chance to read (which seems likely to happen most times). And whether I do or not, there will be some dope music and lyrics going on, so whatever happens, the night will be good. And it gets me out of the house, which sometimes starts to feel a bit…confining.
I was there for last week’s Re-Verb, when it had a special guest host, one of my favorite spoken-word artists of all time, Kyle “Guante” Tran Myhre, about whom I have gushed here before:
And he read—or spoke, actually—a new piece, and it was wonderful. I was able to read early in the evening’s program: “The Feeling of Birds Falling Endlessly from the Trees,” “Star Tribune Reports,” and “Living Next to the Klan.”
Several other artists shared their own excellent work, including the inimitable Lt. Sunnie (interview here), who just dropped her new Big Feelings EP, and the featured artist for the night, Nakara Forjé, who turned it on for us, all that voice, rhythm, personality, and just pure music a wondrous highlight for a night full of them.
So, this week I’ll definitely be there; next week, probably not (schedule conflicts); the week after, yes again; week after that, probably not. It be like that sometimes.
In other upcoming-events news, another Heartbroken Open Mic is approaching—next Wednesday, 7pm (CT), at Open Book. I’ll be there, and I’ll be reading some poems. Listening to what others share. Maybe having some feelings. I mean…it’s right there in the name, right?
In other poetry-related news, sometime in the near future I’m hosting a small discussion of Ross Gay’s Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude (available at Bookshop.org, Moon Palace Books, and elsewhere). If you feel like you’re missing out, feel free to ping me about it.
[Update: I may post an in-depth follow-up here, with a deeper dive into the poems. Or at least some of them. There’s enough depth there to drown. Um, anyway….]
That’s all I’ve got for you now. More news later. Go read some poetry. It does the soul good.