Sean C. Morgan
The program at the Sweet Home Library’s first-ever Open Mic Night was … wordy.
Genny Lynch shared an amusing tale of adventures with apparent sleep apnea and a sleep study that was part of a larger story about other health issues before another woman told a story about wild animals in Korea and a man read aboout his experiences with old aircraft.
Joan Scofield of Sweet Home read a poem she wrote about one of the most versatile tools in history.
Oak Heights teacher and City Councilor Marybeth Angulo read about her dockside adventures with a rowboat at Clear Lake.
They were among close to a dozen writers who read their material at Open Mic Night at the Sweet Home Public Library on Thursday.
Ken Holt of Corvallis took the lead to bring the event to Sweet Home.
He is the coordinator for the Corvallis chapter of Willamette Writers, known as Willamette Writers on the River. It is the newest among five WW chapters.
“A few months back, I decided to travel to the outer communities of our chapter area,” Holt said. “I visited the local library and Senior Center of each. Sweet Home was one of these cities. My purpose was to let them know that WWotR existed, that we held monthly meetings with presentations and that quarterly, we host an open-mic meeting.”
He met Sweet Home Library Director Rose Peda, and she asked him if his group would be willing to co-host an open-mic event at the library.
Holt counted Thursday as a success, with a couple of dozen people attending.
“It went so well, everybody asked if they could come back,” Peda said. The ages and the stories were varied.
Angulo received an invitation to the event from Peda at last week’s City Council meeting, she said, and she quickly made up her mind to attend.
As a teacher, she tries to write stories regularly, she said, although she hasn’t written much lately.
“I was kind of interested and curious,” Angulo said. “I just wanted to share something. I felt really good about it, people were listening. I felt really validated, and it was really cool to hear what other people write.”
She definitely plans to do it again if it’s offered, she said. “I have a lot of experiences I could write about. It’s kind of a release to get it out on paper.”
Lynch began writing in 2003, winning a contest by the Oregon Writers Colony. She attended classes and published in an anthology.
“I’ve read four or five times,” Lynch said. “I like doing it to get practice in, in case I ever get my works published.
“I was really impressed with all of the other people, especially from Swet Home.”
Holt said he participates in open-mic events “as I can.”
“Some of the stories I read are finished while others are a work in progress. I find it beneficial as a writer to read my work aloud in front of others.
“Listening to new writers read their work is exciting. Listening to writers that have been around for a while or are published offers me the opportunity to learn more. Technique, how they wrapped up the story, word choice, plot and much more – I’m constantly learning new ways to write, and from the mix of all these choices, I get to choose what works for me.”
Peda said the library is a logical place to hold such events.
“I think the library is a good vehicle for authors,” she said. “At the end, he (Holt) wanted them to kind of critique each other.”
Events like this are resources for writers to develop their skills, she said, and it can help writers, who may tend to isolate themselves, to socialize and meet others like them. They can expand their talents, run ideas by others and get rapid feedback.
“It’s also wonderful just to hear new stories,” she said. Some are entertaining, while others are informational.
Peda and Holt hope to host another open-mic night in May.
“My hope is that after three or four open-mic events that the Sweet Home writing community will want to host their own open-mic, perhaps even forming a writing group that meets monthly to help all the writers of the Sweet Home area to grow, form and find critique groups, host presenters and offer workshops,” Holt said.
“There were many brilliant writers at the Sweet Home Public Library open-mic, with great stories and poems. Any one of them could be the next success story from Oregon.”