Sigma Kappa Delta, Psi Alpha Chapter, is doing Poetry & Storytelling Night November 4th. You should go
People stride upon the stage, are blinded by the light, and then read.
My consistent experience at our Poetry and Storytelling Nights has been watching others grow. Develop their skills with the flair that comes from confidence. We didn't originally use the theater with its stage, lights, microphones, and wide amounts of seats. The first year I witnessed it, we were in a smaller space. Posters and Christmas lights decorated the walls; the light was warmer; seats were brought in and were fairly tightly packed. I remember two poetry nights in that space and they had an intimacy that the venue afforded. People read one after the other, there wasn't time for the audience to interact, and a spell of a certain sort was cast. It was good, to be sure.
Poetry and Storytelling Night for the last two years has been different. We use a larger theater with a magic of its own. People stride upon the stage, are blinded by the light, and then read. Sometimes it goes exactly according to plan. Sometimes things are a bit weirder. It's good in a way that isn't a constant stream of poetry or prose. It doesn't resemble a chant in a monastery. If you're on stage, you get to take questions, receive encouragement, hear a response. The audience chimes in frequently and the interactivity creates its own moments, moments no one can anticipate. It can feel a little uneven at times, but you really see what kind of effort and risk go into making or doing anything.
"We've got to wonder about what's really scary."
"I like to think we're here to find our voices by listening to others find theirs."
"The activists I believe in the most, the ones who will put their bodies on the line for others, do not discount the arts."
"The question of the Earth is the question of nature, and the question of nature is openness to how we can live."
I'm not saying you can't see the creative process opened like that anywhere else. Of course you can. But Poetry and Storytelling Night remains a special opportunity. There's enormous amounts of back-and-forth and every time we do this, and someone always gets braver. Someone who didn't expect to say the most beautiful, haunting thing does exactly that. Everyone leaves bolder, ready to do more. You'd think with the way I'm talking that we'd have a hundred people show up each time, ready to read. But the truth is that not every good thing gets the attention it deserves.
So on behalf of Sigma Kappa Delta, Psi Alpha Chapter, I'd like to invite you to our Poetry and Storytelling Night. If you would like to RSVP or have questions, I'll refer you to Dylan Garcia:
Thank you for your time.