If you ever doubted Concord’s talent, attend a Poetry Society of New Hampshire meeting and all your doubts will go out the door.
On the third Wednesday of every month at 7 p.m., poetry society members congregate at Gibson’s Bookstore, 27 S. Main St., to listen to a featured poet and participate in an open mic. As luck would have it, the third Wednesday of this month is right around the corner. There will be a meeting on Oct. 21 with featured poet Nancy Jean Hill. And guess what? It gets even better. Poetry society meetings are free and open to the public.
The meetings typically begin with one or two featured poets who read for about 15 to 20 minutes each. After a brief intermission, there’s the much anticipated open mic that allows whoever’s brave enough to stand up and recite either a poem they have written or someone else’s piece they admire. The meetings last until around 8:45 p.m., which means the majority of the time is devoted to the open mic.
You’d think that people would shy away from baring their soul in front of complete strangers, but surprisingly there are always plenty of people willing to read. Each person who signs up at the beginning of the evening to read is called up one by one and recites the poem of his or her choice. Then, if time allows, people are invited to come up for a second or third time, so there’s always plenty of poetry to go around. Concord’s very own Don Kimball, who leads the meetings at Gibson’s, says he’s even had a few courageous people who’ve recited poems from memory. Now, that’s impressive.
The introverted have a place there, too. All are welcome to sit and enjoy the words heard on these particular evenings. Because even if the last poem you wrote was a variation of “Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue” for a Mothers Day card made out of construction paper, you can still take pleasure in a poem by listening.
“Good poems are primarily written for the ear and ought to be read aloud,” Don says. “Public readings are a good place to hear poets read their works in their own voices. It’s a way to discover new poets and their work. I believe that poetry is good for the ear, as well as the mind and soul.”
The open mics began a few years ago when the society’s current president, Pat Frisella, contacted all the bookstores in the state, hoping that a few would be interested in hosting an open mic. According to Pat, the only bookstores to reply were the Border’s stores in Hanover and Concord. The first reading in Concord was held in 2004.
“Borders has gone through a lot of changes over the years, and when it seemed appropriate to do so, both from Borders’s point of view and from our own, we moved the third Wednesday readings to Gibson’s, which expressed interest,” Pat explains.
Despite the move to Gibson’s for the monthly meetings, the group still attends quarterly meetings at Borders in Concord. Much like the Gibson’s events, the quarterly meetings are also free, open to the public and feature a reader and an open mic. The next one at Borders also just happens to be right around the corner on Oct. 31 at 11 a.m. Just to switch things up, the open mic will kick off the meeting and special guest Jennifer Whitten will read at 1 p.m.
So now that you know there will be not one but two poetry society meetings this month, we hope you’re already penning your next poem.
“Anyone interested in poetry should come because the vast array of different poets inspires and helps us hone our skills,” Pat says. “To paraphrase Walt Whitman, poetry is important because it can both bring hope to the downtrodden and strike terror in the hearts of despots.”
For more information about the poetry society, contact Pat at 332-0732 or e-mail poetrysocietyofnewhampshire@gmail.com.
Here are some of the featured readers lined up for the monthly meetings at Gibson’s (find a complete list on the Insider website). All meeting begin at 7 p.m. For more information about Gibson’s, call 224-0562 or visit gibsonsbookstore.com.
2009
– Oct. 21: Nancy Jean Hill
– Nov. 18: Kathy Gregg, Hugh Hennedy and Sid Hall.
2010
– Jan. 20:Walter E. Butts, New Hampshire poet laureate, 2009-2014
– Feb. 17: Glenn K. Currie and Dudley Laufman
– March 17: Tim Mayo and Patricia Fargnoli (former New Hampshire poet laureate)
– April 21: Katherine Solomon and Kathi Hennessey
– May 19 : Priscilla Burlingham and Kate McCarthy
– June 16 : Johnny Longfellow
– July 21: Mary Alexandra Agner and Nate Graziano
– Aug.18 – Open mic
– Sept. 15 – Meg Kearney and Rodger Martin
– Oct. 20 – To be determined.
– Nov. 17: Adrian Blevins
