Open Mic at the Acoustic Coffeehouse, 20 July 2011

Today, I find writing a bit more welcome, if only because I had the opportunity to see two favorite writers in action last night, during the (usually) monthly "Open Mic" night at the Acoustic Coffeehouse in Johnson City, Tennessee. Kevin O'Donnell of East Tennessee State University's Department of Literature and Language organizes these events, and during the school year a number of ETSU's faculty members and an increasing number of ETSU students participate. Writers of varying degrees of experience and talent read, and one has the opportunity to watch how people grow as writers. These events usually happen on the third Wednesday evening of each month, so anyone in Johnson City at the time should check the Acoustic Coffeehouse website's calendar for information.

Current ETSU L&L faculty Jesse Graves, Thomas Crofts, Kevin O'Donnell, and Sean Bolton often read there. Some talented students, such as Brian Bowman and Maggie Colvett, sometimes read. Last night, we had an opportunity to see the range of creativity in our community. Ron Giles, a professor retired from our department and a perennial favorite at Open Mic, and Adam Lambert, an ETSU English major and emerging writer, both offered poems.

Many of us attend in hopes that Ron Giles will read. He expresses a thoughtful joy in his poems, offering insight in descriptions of boyhood experiences and overseas duty, moments of quotidian epiphany, and just plain good feeling in a comfortable, learned voice I admire a great deal. After a humorous warning of what kind of love poem not to write for one's wife (bringing up age, Giles advises, is counterindicated), he read a piece describing a moment of togetherness that balanced a sweet affection with just a bit of earthiness, too. One could feel the appreciation in the room.

Adam Lambert read a poem about picking blackberries with his mother, and I admired how well he avoided the too familiar formulae one often hears in such works (what Appalachian Heritage refers to as "'Papaw Was Perfect' poetry and the 'Mamaw Moved Mountains' manuscripts"), admiring as well the care he has taken with the sounds of the language in descriptive phrases and vernacular speech.

These two writers create work deserving attention, and I could not help but feel anxious to get to my familiar spaces and resume writing. That kind of experience means a great deal to me. I will sing along with a recording, and, if a guitar is handy, I will play along, too. When I read or hear good writing, I want to write.

For a while, Ron Giles and Adam Lambert will be my immediate collaborators, only because they have made me want to write.

That's my first blog.