The Writers' Collective

Hey y’all, the website elves here, and we wanted to introduce a guest blogger today,

please give a warm welcome to Ms. Shayla E….

(insert applause here)

Hi, I am Shayla Elizabeth, a member of the Aboriginal Writers’ Collective, and I wanted to write a few words on my experience with the Speaking Crow Open Mic series.

At the beginning of 2009, one of my new year’s resolutions was to start going to the Speaking Crow on a regular basis and try to make as many of them as possible for at least a year. They are once a month, featuring a published (as in, have a book :)) poet reading from their work for about 10 minutes, then it’s the Open Mic that anyone can sign up for.

I wanted to get into a regular writing habit, and also, practice being in front of a microphone. There are poets of all stripes, from having books published to first-timers, I found them all to be quite supportive, even as my most of my pieces were works-in-progress. Sometimes, the featured poet would stay, and I would even get positive feedback from them on a piece (!), which would encourage me to finish editing it.

Everyone is so welcoming, and it’s wonderful to hear other peoples’ drafts, even from the more experienced poets. It’s now September 2010, so as you can tell, my positive experience with Speaking Crow has kept me coming back for more!

Thanks Shayla. So what do you think? Do you have what it takes for the Speaking Crow Challenge? Your next opportunity is next Tuesday, September 7th when the Featured Reader will be Mariiane Mayes!!

Do you have a topic you would like to write about here? Email us, or post a comment and you too can be a guest blogger!!!