The microphone feedback pierced the air as the crowd settled into their seats at Biederman’s Deli and Pub Tuesday, September 17th, during PSU’s student literary group Poets and Writers open mic night. The event was a hit packing the basement pub with laughter and excitement on an otherwise quiet evening. Twenty-one students, professors, and alumni read as many as three poems each. The robust event lasted from 6:00 PM to 8 and didn’t lull once.
The experience of readers was diverse. Samantha Ahern, a freshman from Amherst NH and first time reader feverously looked over her poem before the event started. She was greeted with warm applause at the end of her time on stage. Rachel Grotheen a student at Plymouth High School also read. Throughout the night, the high quality work was spoken with great conviction, as audience members left with the knowledge that PSU has a strong and poetic voice.
Poems varied in themes from lost love to comments on contemporary culture. The mood dipped and rose over emotional crests, intermittently punctuated by absurd readings of audience generated “mad lib” poems. The host of the evening was organization president Patrick O’Sullivan. This student organization is also responsible for publishing student writing once a semester in the group’s literary journal The Centripetal (which is still open for submissions until November 1st).
After a full night of introspection and poetic humor Patrick sent us off with reminders of upcoming events, including a screening of On The Road Friday night at The Flying Monkey, and author Alicia Ostriker’s upcoming appearance at The Silver Center on Halloween night.