A new event popped up on Elizabethtown College’s campus. The Bowers Writers House held its first ever open mic for anyone to come read a wide range of work they’ve written from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 13.
Three Etown students came up with the idea to have an open mic on campus and talked to the Director of the Bowers Writers House, Jesse Waters. One of the students, Anastasia McGettigan, revealed the process for getting the event in motion.
“Vince Clay, Ansel Lefever and I approached Jesse Waters to get this idea in motion,” she said, “And he [Waters]provided the venue for this event.”
McGettigan also mentioned that Waters got in contact with Etown’s catering services for the open mic. Events at the Writers house are known for their chocolate fondue receptions, which Waters was able to secure for the open mic. When event planning was out of the way, McGettigan said the team, “worked on creating posters and getting the word about the event out.
At the open mic, students were greeted at the door by Waters. He handed out raffle tickets for two books and encouraged those who wanted to read to sign up. Students who wanted to read were given a five to seven minute time slot. When readers approached six minutes either McGettigan, Clay or Lefever would hold up a red folder to let them know their time was almost up.
The three had planned for 15 students to read at the open mic, butthere were some empty spots on the sign up sheet towards the end of the night. So, the group decided to open it to anyone else who had not gotten the chance to sign up and still wanted to read, or to those who already read and wanted to read something else. After doing that, a few more students did decide to read, and they hit their 15 student mark.
Those who chose to read had a wide variety of genres to choose from. Students could have read poetry, short stories, creative nonfiction, flash fiction or any combination of those. Students seemed to primarily read poetry, but some read a creative nonfiction and a short story or two.
Many students attended the event on Friday night. Since the event was Etown’s first open mic, no one really knew what the turnout may have looked like.
“We had a great turn out,” McGettigan said.“I wasn’t quite sure what to expect for this first one, but it was pretty packed.”
One student, Jillian Spiller, attended the event with friends.
“I thought it was awesome that so many majors and people could come together and share their work,” Spiller said.I’m really looking forward to the next one!”
McGettigan, Clay and Lefever announced at the open mic that a second one is in the works.They will continue to be held at the Bowers Writers house, but this one may be outdoors. Although a date is not set in stone, they are looking at holding the second open mic in mid-late October.
Even if you think you may not want to read something, Etown Originals open mic would be a great way to hear from some other students on campus, McGettigan said..
“Even if people have a slight interest in creative writing, they should come to the next open mic,” McGettigan said.“It’s great to hear from authors around campus or read original works.”
McGettigan also mentioned keeping an eye out for the Creative Writing Club, which she hopes to start on Etown’s Campus. So, mark your calendars for the next open mic and start writing!
