On the second last Thursday of every month, a group of local poets and poetry enthusiasts come down to the Campbell River library and share their love for the art form.
Customer Service Librarian Arija Fisher thought of the idea back in November for the CR Live Streets Night Out Downtown event.
“What the library did to contribute to the event was host an Open Mic event where people could bring in their poetry, whether it was original or maybe just a work they enjoyed,” Fisher said. “We had a surprising amount of people who were interested in taking part. I want to try to continue that.”
There have been a few poetry nights since November, but Fisher is hoping that more people come check the events out.
“I know there’s not the strongest presence of poetry and writer’s groups, at least not publicly,” she said. “I wanted to at least do my part to contribute a bit more to this creative space.”
Fisher says she wants to help foster a sense of creativity in the community.
“I want to present it as a step for people who might want to share the creativity that they have with their community,” she said.
The poems do not have to be originals. Fisher herself shared the poem “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley during the first open mic night, saying it was one of her favourites. However, since poems can be a bit lengthy, she is asking that people prepare one poem to read, and limit their time to around five minutes.
“The first one I had a couple of people reading some very personal poem,” Fisher said. “It was a lovely little quiet moment where we got to share those words. It was sort of like taking a glimpse into their hearts. It was wonderful.”
The event is geared towards a more adult audience, since sometimes poems can deal with some mature themes, but Fisher said that all ages are welcome.
”It’s a chance for that poetry just to occur, and flourish, and just to share in that creativity,” Fisher said.
The next poetry event is on May 23, with sign up beginning at 5 p.m. at the Library’s multi-purpose room. The event itself will start at 5:15. Poets are asked to prepare one poem, and to limit their time to approximately five minutes.
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