OSF to Host Hip-Hop Poetry Open Mic Events This Spring

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) will host three free Hip-Hop Poetry Open Mic events this spring on March 9, April 6 and May 4. All Hip-Hop Poetry Open Mic events will take place from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Black Swan on the OSF campus (15 S. Pioneer St., Ashland, OR 97520). Doors will open at 6:30 p.m.; space is limited.

In addition to opening the stage for the community to share their talents via all styles of poetry, music, dance and theatre, each night will highlight a different featured artist: the SOU Performance Poetry Team on March 9, Clementine von Radics on April 6 and T-Poe on May 4. Phil Ortega's Life Art students will also be creating visual art based on poetry, to be shared at some point during the open mic series.

"We look forward to celebrating youth, women and our military community with great poets over the next three months," said Claudia Alick, OSF's Associate Producer, Community.

The first featured artists of the three-event series, the SOU Performance Poetry Team, are students with a goal to bring people together through words, performance and passion. The team aims to foster and continue the inclusive and supportive SOU community where poets and poetry enthusiasts can share ideas.

These events are open to the community, providing an opportunity to work on original material in front of live and deeply supportive audiences. OSF has been producing poetry slams and open mics since 2007.

More information about the open mic events is available on the OSF website here, and on the event's Facebook invites: March 9, April 6 and May 4.