Writing is a solitary endeavor, and so it was with a sense of anticipation and community that local authors of prose and poetry gathered recently on a dark and stormy night at the Glencoe Public Library to participate in its monthly Writers’ Open Mic. Held on the second Wednesday, the Open Mic is an opportunity for people to share their work.
“We thought we’d give it a try three years ago and it’s only getting stronger,” said Grace Hayek, Programs and Outreach Librarian.
The types of works presented are as varied as the authors — “the best thing about the Open Mic,” said Richard Reeder, a Chicago Literary Hall of Fame member and the evening’s moderator, filling in for Bob Boone, who launched the Open Mic in 2012. “They read works in progress, poems, a stories, fiction or non-fiction. There are no strict rules.”
The Open Mic was an outgrowth of a similar program Boone created for teen scribes. Young Chicago Authors, another program Boone created, turned him into an advocate for creative writing, he said in an email.
“I was in the unique position to offer Open Mics for writers of all ages; I had lived (in Glencoe) a long time. I had taught writing in the local schools and writing classes at the library. I was familiar with many writing groups and networks. And, finally, I was a part-time writer myself.”
Boone’s second collection of stories, “Back to Forest High,” was published last November.
The inclusive nature of the Open Mic attracts a multi-generation group, with participants ranging from millennials to retirees. In the latter group is Richard Bair, 72, who has been attending Open Mics for more than a year. He once contributed a 10-minute play, though he’s “mostly an audience member.”
“I come here to enjoy the interplay of ideas,” Bair said.
Writing has been a release for Anne Caplin since her husband passed away a couple of years ago. She feels that writers understand each other.
Caplin’s contribution for the night was “a change of pace” from her usual poems, she prologued, before challenging attendees to guess the author’s identity. When she was done reading, someone guessed O. Henry, but they were wrong. She, herself, had written the story when she was 14-years-old.
Peter Nolan, an Emmy-winning broadcast journalist, read an excerpt from a memoir in progress about his experiences in the Chicago news business. His story recalled an incident in 1975 when Rosemary Kennedy, the mentally challenged sister of Sen. Edward Kennedy, went missing during a visit to Chicago.
Alex Ranieri, 21, a former neighbor of Boone in Glencoe, read three poems that she called a departure from earlier “dark material.” A playwright and novelist who served a residency in the Istrian Peninsula of Croatia, Ranieri said she appreciated the opportunity to receive feedback on her work.
“It’s difficult to know whether something is good until you’ve shared it with other people and received some kind of reaction,” she observed.
Ranieri was accompanied by Allison O’Connor, who also read a collection of poems. One, which dealt with suicide, elicited appreciative murmurs from the group. O’Connor is the daughter of poet and New Trier High School teacher John O’Connor.
“Writing is a big part of my life,” she said. “It’s important that people have spaces to share their work and their voices be heard.”
Writers’ Open Mic Night
When: 7p.m., second Wednesday of every month
Where: Glencoe Public Library, 320 Park Ave., Glencoe
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Cost: Free
Contact: www.glencoepubliclibrary.org