Real Words

One of the things that I really love to do to get inspiration as a writer is to attend open mic events, poetry slams and literary readings where people read their writings from the stage. I think it’s great to experience the written word in the spoken format. It changes it, adds a new dimension and makes it something slightly new.

Attending these events always inspires me. Sometimes I hear a word or phrase that sparks something for my own writing. Sometimes I consider exploring a new form of writing after hearing it aloud.  And sometimes it’s just the energy of the crowd that makes me want to write.

What’s interesting is how many different types of writing events there are and how different each one is in terms of the energy and ambience of the event. Some of the ones that I most commonly attend include:

• Open mic poetry events. This is where people of any age and writing level sign up on a list and get to read their own work for a certain amount of time. These can vary widely in style depending on the host and may even end up more like a variety show with comedians and musicians being included. I typically find these events to be interesting (albeit slightly overstimulating) because of the diversity of the group that comes to read although this, again, can vary a lot depending on venue.
• Poetry slams. I discovered these back in my college days and then lost touch with them again until just the past few months. These are events where people sign up to compete against each other for cash prizes. They get a certain amount of time to read one poem which is voted on by a set of audience members. Here it’s more about the performance than the words themselves (although the words matter) so you get a totally different vibe that’s almost more like theatre than poetry reading.
• Multiple writers reading together at an event. One of my favorite writing events in San Francisco is Writers with Drinks. At this event, five or six different authors are invited on stage to read from their works for about fifteen minutes each. They get enough time to really explore their genre but you get exposed to the writing of several different people. This is usually less intense than a poetry slam but not as laidback as most open mics I’ve been to. Each author brings his or her own following so there’s a lot of support and you really sense a writer’s community at things like this.
• Single writers reading their work. This is what you typically get when you have an author reading at a book signing in a store. They read a specific work for an extended period of time so you really get to know the work. Then they usually take questions so it’s a great way to learn a lot about a writer’s process. However, I usually don’t love these events unless I’m specifically interested in the author and have read at least some of his or her work.
• Erotica readings and performances. There is a whole other set of literary readings which is geared entirely around sex. Sometimes these are erotica authors reading from their books at book signings. Other times they are open mics of erotic poems. Or sex workers’ performance art shows that include authors reading. Whatever the format, the underlying vibe of these is sexuality so it’s a different feeling than what’s at other writer’s events.

What other types of events do you go to where writers read their works?