Ode to Sappho Poetry Open Mic

Bolm Arts is hosting the Ode to Sappho Poetry Open Mic on Wednesday, August 26, starting at 6:30 PM. It's a spoken-word night built around a specific theme: poems paying tribute to Sappho and the spirit of Lesbos. If you've never heard of her, Sappho was the Greek lyric poet from the island of Lesbos whose fragments have spent centuries as a touchstone for queer love and longing. That's the thread the night pulls on.

The open mic doesn't stand alone, either. It's paired with the Sapphic Summer exhibition, which will be on view at the gallery. The two run together, so you can spend some time with the art before the reading starts, or drift back to the walls between sets. The whole evening is billed as a queer space, and the focus on Sappho makes it pretty clear who the night is for.

Since it's an open mic, the lineup is whoever shows up with something to read. If you've been working on a piece that fits the theme, you can sign up and take the mic yourself. If not, you can just come and listen to what other people bring to the table. The prompt—Sappho and the spirit of Lesbos—gives the night a shared direction, so you'll likely hear a lot of work circling the same ideas of desire, loss, and queer history.

It all happens at Bolm Arts, 5305 Bolm Rd. #9, in Austin. The open mic kicks off at 6:30 PM on Wednesday, August 26, with the Sapphic Summer exhibition on view throughout.