On Friday, Sept. 23, 35 students showed up in ATS to watch as students showcased their artistic talents at this year’s first open mic night hosted by Exiled, Dickinson’s spoken word poetry society.

17 students presented in a wide variety of ways, anything from instrumental performance and singing to poetry and monologue recitation. Topics encompassed racial relations, eating disorders and body image, gender and sexuality, cultural diversity and sexual violence, among others.

Kadijah Sutton ’17 says that the turnout was “usual for an open mic, but other events draw larger crowds.” Taeya Viruet ’20 expresses her appreciation of the event saying, “The vibes were great.”

Meredith Jones ’20, reflects upon the energy of the evening: “As an audience member, I found the Exiled poetry reading to be an incredible platform for students to speak about their personal experiences, while in an artful and respectful environment. I thought that the pieces shared were incredibly forceful, and served as beautiful examples of the liberties of poetry. All in all, it was a lovely and inspiring experience for the Dickinson community.”

The audience welcomed Ellis Tucci ’20, as the very first performance of the evening.  Tucci presented three original poems he says he wrote while travelling this past summer.

“It was really great to perform poetry in front of such a positive and welcoming crowd!” Ellis said. “It was really an incredible night, and everyone that got up to the mic was not only very brave, but also extremely talented. I hope that there’ll be similar events in the future where I’ll be able to experience the wide variety of talent that Dickinson has to offer!”

Open mic nights are held every semester and are open to the entire campus. For more information about Exiled or future Open Mic events, contact Sutton.