The Book Tavern, located at 936 Broad St. in downtown Augusta, hosted its fifth Your Poetry: An Open Mic Experience on Saturday, Aug. 18.Your Poetry is an event that is open and free to the public. People who attend the event are able to read some of her or his poetry, prose, sing a song or even tell jokes.Each event has a featured poet who will read their work to start off the event. The featured poet for Aug. 18. was Danielle Hanson, who received her MFA degree from Arizona State University and is the editor for the journal DoubleBack Books. She also was the 2016 recipient of a Vi Gale award from Hubbub, a Portland, Ore., poetry journal.After Hanson finished reading her work, the other poets went to the mic and read from their works. Each poet had five minutes to perform.The first poet was Marsha Kocherla, who read a poem about a past relationship and how she is coping with the breakup and moving on.
The next poet was Jessica Willins, who read her poem titled "Forged in Fire."
The next poet was Aquinas High School student Virginia Wayt (vkwayt on Instagram). She was the winner of the first-ever Your Poetry event. She read several of her poems about life as a high school student and her struggles with relationships.
Up next was Crystal Jones, who is a regular at "Your poetry" events. She read several poems about her heritage and her feelings towards President Trump. You can find her on twitter and Instagram at @Americanmix74.
Rachel Visintainer, a communication student at Augusta University, read her poetry next. She began her reading with a poem dedicated to her boyfriend. You can find her on Instagram at @rachelvizionary.
The next poet was Austin Conder. He began his reading by reading as Shylock from William Shakespeare's 'The Merchant of Venice." He then read some of his original poems and followed his performance with a joke.
The last poet to perform was Ramon Perea, who read an original poem dedicated to a woman that he loves.
To close out the night, The Book Tavern's artist in residence Paul Rogers performed his rendition of My Funny Valentine by Ella Fitzgerald.
Artist in residence: Paul RogersPoets in order:
- Marsha Kocherla
- Jessica Willins
- Virginia Wayt
- Crystal Jones
- Rachel Visintainer
- Austin Conder
- Ramon Perea