Arts & Entertainment
Tin Box Poets Host Open Mic
Local poetry group invites fellow poets to an open mic to celebrate National Poetry Month, Thursday, April 14, at the Swampscott Library.
In the back room of Panera Bread in Vinnin Square, on the first Monday of each month, gathers a motley yet talented crew of local writers known as the Tin Box Poets.
Tin Box comprises about a dozen local poets, of a wide variety of ages and walks of life. Some are beginners; others oft published. One has been nominated for two Pushcart Awards.
The group was started over 15 years ago by poet Allen Marquis, who had moved to Swampscott and, looking for a writing group and not finding one, started his own.
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A few of the original members remain, and other writers have cycled through over the years.
The poets share information about upcoming readings, and other writerly chit chat, but the crux of their time is spent reading, listening to and critiquing each other’s work.
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The group’s “communications guru” Lee Eric Freedman says, “Everyone who has come and passed through has gotten so much better,” from this process of reading and reviewing.
On a recent Monday, the attending members pored over a poem by Margaret Eckman.
“Do you get hung up if you use the same word twice?” Freedman asked her.
Eckman laughed. “No!”
“We steal new words from each other,” Freedman confided.
It’s “a safe place to read and be critiqued,” noted Clem Shoenebeck.
Where did the name come from? They laugh.
“An old cigar box Clem had to keep our meager dues in,” says Freedman.
In addition to their monthly meetings, the group helps Sandy Moltz at the Swampscott Library judge and run the Lee Golomb Cadiff Poetry Contest for teens.
Their biggest event however is an annual Open Mic, held each April to celebrate National Poetry Month. That event began 13 years ago when Freedman was looking for a place to read.
The event has grown into a popular evening on the local calendar and is well attended by area poets.
This year’s Open Mic is Thursday, April 14, at the Swampscott Library. Sign up is at 6, and readings are from 6:30-8:30.
Poets of all kinds and abilities are welcome to join the group—finding them is easy.
On the first Monday of every month, just check the back room of Panera.
