What are the best open mics in the Tahoe Area?

Who knew this is what I look like reading a new poem of mine at the Iron Door in the Holbrooke Hotel, Grass Valley, when the stakes are an invitation to read on the main stage? Well, my performance impressed the judges and I got the opportunity to share my work at the 8th Sierra Poetry Festival.

Are you looking for an open mic in the area to perform your newest poem, your spoken word, your slam expression? Especially in April, National Poetry Month, we have more opportunities to share our work, but in the past couple of years, open mics are on the rise in Tahoe, Truckee, Reno, and Grass Valley/Nevada City. Here are a few that I recommend:

1. The Muse Exchange is an open mic at the Fern @ 235 Commercial St. in Nevada City every first Wednesday beginning this May 1. You can perform poetry, storytelling, and even comedy. Blast off is at 7 pm with doors opening at 6 pm. This open mic is hosted by Michael Clarity, MC extraordinaire, with DJ beats and visual art as well.

2. At Shim's Speakeasy on W 3rd Ave in Reno, NV you can share your poem on stage in an open mic hosted by Spoken Views Collective. The MC is Jesse Ziegler, Reno Poet Laureate himself. I love this scene at Shim's - super welcoming, fun and diverse. Their mission is to provide a platform and safe spaces for spoken word expression as well as build a community of spoken word artists and poets. 21+ 

3. Go to Incline Village this April 30th in the Prim Library for an open mic poetry night in celebration of national Poetry Month.This will be Incline Village Library and Prim Library, University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe second annual poetry night.  From 6:30-8:30 PM. Enjoy an evening of poetry, music, community gathering, and complimentary snacks. Register as a participant or an audience member! You can find tickets at

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tahoe-poetry-night-tickets-837803210957

4. Once or twice a month, Dark Horse in Truckee hosts open mic, live music, talent shows and other eclectic performance. They call themselves "a place for crunchy dirtbags, local classics, academics, poets, philosophers, artists, angels, devils, mirrors, mystics, skeptics, rebels, those with money, those without, those lost, those found, leave your judgement at the door." this coffee shop is one of my go to places to work and write in an old town filled with creative people type of vibe.

5. The Kings Beach Library has an open mic "Poetry in the Afternoon" on May 18th from 2-4 pm. I love this simple announcement below - what more do we need?

I know many other open mics are happening out there - what's your favorite?

Poetry Reading for all ages and Common Reads Event at the Truckee Library April 3, 5-7 pm

Truckee Library invites you to a special event Poetry Reading for all ages to celebrate the Nevada County Reads program and the beginning of National Poetry Month on April 3, 2024 from 5-7 pm.

The Truckee Library Celebration of Gratitude poetry reading will take place on Wednesday, April 3rd, 2024, from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm at the Truckee Library. The event will feature a poetry reading by June Saraceno and Karen Terrey. Each poet will share poems on the theme of Gratitude and offer a short writing prompts for all levels of experience. 

June Sylvester Saraceno is the author of the novel Feral, North Carolina, 1965, and three poetry collections—The Girl from Yesterday, of Dirt and Tar, and Altars of Ordinary Light. She is director of the low residency MFA program in creative writing at the University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe.

There will be time for socializing with the poets and a Q&A during the reading. The library will provide light refreshments for all who attend. The event is completely free and everyone from our community is encouraged to attend! Free copies of this year's book are available at all Nevada County Library Branches.

Nevada County Reads is an annual county-wide reading event, during which our entire community is invited to read, discuss, and engage together around a common book. Each year since 2005, the Nevada County Library and Nevada County Superintendent of Schools have joined with community partners to present this opportunity for Nevada County to build a stronger community through shared reading.

 

Our 2024 Nevada County Reads selection is Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by poet Ross Gay, a collection of poems that explore the beauty and joy of being alive in a world which is tragically affected by the passage of time. This year's NCR period is presented in partnership with the Nevada County Arts Council. A month of poetry celebration will culminate with a free, in-person discussion and audience Q&A with Ross Gay on April 13, 2024 at 5:30PM at the Center for the Arts in Grass Valley as part of the Sierra Poetry Festival.

Ross Gay is the author of four books of poetry: Against Which; Bringing the Shovel Down; Be Holding, winner of the PEN American Literary Jean Stein Award; and Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, winner of the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award and the 2016 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. In addition to his poetry, Ross has released three collections of essays—The Book of Delights was released in 2019 and was a New York Times bestseller; Inciting Joy was released in 2022, and his newest collection, The Book of (More) Delights was released in September of 2023.

Don’t miss this opportunity to hear some of the finest poets in Nevada County and to celebrate the power of gratitude in our lives. For more information about Nevada County Reads 2024 and other related events, please visit the Nevada County Library website at www.nevadacountyreads.com.

 

Looking ahead to April 13th, 2024: Sierra Poetry Festival in Grass Valley

Sierra Poetry Festival’s mainstage event will take place on April 13, 2024 at The Center for the Arts in Grass Valley, CA. Attended by some of the most exciting local, national and international poets and performers, it is the highlight of a month-long festival, taking place in venues across Nevada County and its two California Cultural Districts. 

Keynote Jane Hirshfield will kick off the day. I'm still finding inspiration from a workshop I participated in many years ago Sierra Nevada College led by her. I recommend reading Nine Gates, a collection of essays on creative process along with any of her poetry. 

This poem in particular speaks to my curiosity about the unknowable in poetry:

The Supple Deer by Jane Hirshfield, 1953

The quiet opening
between fence strands
perhaps eighteen inches.

Antlers to hind hooves,
four feet off the ground,
the deer poured through.

No tuft of the coarse white belly hair left behind.

I don’t know how a stag turns
into a stream, an arc of water.
I have never felt such accurate envy.

Not of the deer:

To be that porous, to have such largeness pass through me.

Poet and essayist Ross Gay will be our closing highlight. Gay is author of four books of poetry, winner of the PEN American Literary Jean Stein Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. He is a New York Times bestseller, and his newest collection, The Book of (More) Delights was released in September of 2023. The Book of Delights is a collection of short essays I give as a gift to friends and that is always on my desk for me to read through, reminding me of how many ways exist to discover delight in the everyday.

Luis Alberto Urrea, another author I met at SNC and author most recently of the wonderful novel Goodnight, Irene, writes, “Ross Gay is a writer perfectly suited to find delight. His eye is so brilliant, it seems to glow from within. When I need hope, I turn to his words. And this collection will remind you how beautiful it is to be alive.” 

I'll see you there!

Tickets are now on sale at https://www.sierrapoetryfestival.org.