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Arts and Culture, Living

Poetic License: The Ancient City Poets Celebrate Poetry Month

As we celebrate poetry month in April, the Ancient City Poets are gearing up to bring their words to the St. Augustine community.

April 1, 2020 | Molly Wilson
a poet performs in front of a crowd at corazon cinema and cafe

Poetry allows us to examine the world, ourselves, the people around us in a uniquely empathetic and emotionally-resonant way. It takes a particular skill to cast a sideways spotlight on a subject – masking our insight in metaphor and coded language, setting it to a rhythm that only deepens the profundity instead of diluting it. With this significance in mind, National Poetry Month was established by the Academy of American Poets in April of 1996.

National Poetry Month is also what sparked the establishment of the Ancient City Poets. In 2009, a round table of writers, authors, and poets was brought together by writer Glenda Bailey-Mershon with the intention of planning several events for Poetry Month. Chris Bodor was the Master of Ceremonies for one of two open mic events. He had come to St. Augustine from New York several years before. While in NYC, he brought poems to an open mic in his brother’s coffee shop and eventually became its host, so this event was nothing new. “After the success of those two events on San Marco Street, Glenda gave me permission to take the name Ancient City Poets and run with it,” says Chris. “A few months later, in August, I turned on a microphone at a coffee shop, and we have been gathering on the last Sunday of the month ever since.”

On the last Sunday of each month – year after year – the group has set out a sign-up sheet and set up a microphone to give a voice to St. Augustine’s poets. As far as they’re concerned, any person who reads a poem at the event is a member of ACP. Since that first open mic, they’ve had readers as young as eight and as old as eighty.

During Poetry Month, the Ancient City Poets will host a community open mic on Sunday, April 28. The sign up sheet will go up at 2:30pm, and the readings will start at 3pm. All are encouraged to share their own poems or poems of their favorite writers. They’re also looking forward to several special events later in the year – like a poetry reading during the Sing Out Loud Festival in September.

“National Poetry Month is a fantastic opportunity because it puts a spotlight on something that the Ancient City Poets are doing all year long,” says Chris. “Call it free speech or call it free entertainment, it is an opportunity for poets and poetry lovers to assemble and share their words in a loving and supporting atmosphere.”

 

Learn more about the Ancient City Poets and their events by visiting www.bodor.org. With the recent Coronavirus cancellations, please independently confirm the above date before attending. Photography by Robert Waldner.

Meet The Author
Molly Wilson
Molly Wilson is the Managing Editor at St. Augustine Social. She is a Tallahassee, Florida native who came to St. Augustine in 2014 to attend Flagler College for her undergraduate. She has degrees in English Literature and Philosophy/Religion and is working on her master's degree in Liberal Arts. When not working or studying, she spends her very limited free time baking, reading, and exploring St. Augustine with her dog Reg.


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