The open mic has always played an important role in the accessibility and spreading of poetry. I love to hear experienced poets featured at the mic as much as anyone else and I’m always learning and gaining inspiration from them. But providing the opportunity for those without the experience and the academic and publishing credentials to stand in front of an audience and read their poem is just as exciting and important.

Over the last two decades of attending readings in the seacoast and beyond I’ve been routinely blown away by what I hear at open mics from poets reading for the first time. I was a first-time reader once and I remember the nervous self-doubt and pounding heart I had to overcome to get up there and read my words. The open mic is a big deal for new poets and their growth as a writer needs encouragement and applause.

Good Fat is meant to be an extension of the open mic invitation. There are some poets in this zine with decades of experience, others who are brand new and everyone in-between. It’s important to make space for everyone so that poetry remains a vital medium for the whole community and the love of poetry thrives.

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