by Anna Weaver | Mar 5, 2016 | All Posts, US open mics
In the basement of the Redeemer Lutheran Church in Milwaukee is a coffee house called… Wait for it… The Coffee House. Been there 49 years. For many of those years—maybe all of these years (no one seemed to know exactly)—they’ve held an event they call Open Stage. In...
by Anna Weaver | Feb 25, 2016 | All Posts, US open mics
So I came to Hyattsville with pretty high expectations. After my first Busboys and Poets experience, I think I had good reason. I mean, poetry is right in their name. It’s at the core of their concept. There are quotes from Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou printed on...
by Anna Weaver | Feb 7, 2016 | All Posts, US open mics
Someday my well-meaning, risk-averse family and friends will learn that it takes a lot to harsh my open mic love. Despite warnings about LA traffic and “bad parts of town,” I once again managed to parlay a little work travel into an open mic opportunity and come out...
by Anna Weaver | Oct 3, 2015 | All Posts, US open mics
With a name like that, this one had to be good. (And after the prior night’s facemelt at Gypsy Coffee House, I needed a good one.) Blessed Apollo, it was… The Background (So Far As I Know) and Why I Always Show Up Early In its current incarnation in the back...
by Anna Weaver | Oct 1, 2015 | All Posts, US open mics
Having hosted a short-lived open mic in Raleigh—like, 9 months short-lived—I can’t help but be impressed by an event that’s managed to last across years. Honestly, so many things can drive an open mic under… (NB: After I wrote this post, my open mic found a new venue...
by Anna Weaver | Sep 28, 2015 | All Posts, US open mics
Where the train is a dance party and we boo linear time… No matter how many times I tell people that you never know what to expect at an open mic, I still get surprised. Lucky for me, this is my favorite state of mind, because at Mic Check Poetry, the weekly...
