Talk about putting your money where your mouth is. An Ottawa-based poetry organization is launching a new platform and plans to use the proceeds from its open mic and other events to invest in the community.
Poets for the People was announced recently after organizers took a year-long break from hosting spoken word poetry events.
The group will host its first spoken word open mic event, featuring at least a dozen local poets, on Oct. 26.
“The idea behind Poets for the People was to create a community with all the poets we’ve met over the years and to create a safe space for them to express themselves, through poetry, through storytelling,” says the organization’s founder, Sandra Bittar-Minger.
“The money that is raised is also being used for community outreach events. So that’s to give back to small businesses, local organizations, maybe even international communities.”
Money for the organization’s activities comes from ticket sales. While performing poets get in free, audience members are charged about $40 per person.
Prior to reinventing itself, the organization typically welcomed about 80 to 90 people to open mic events, with one event in the summer receiving a turnout of more than 100, according to Bittar-Minger.
Until now, Open Mic Night only hosted spoken word events and writing workshops. Now, as Poets for the People, Bittar-Minger says the plan is to continue hosting spoken word open mics, but also new programs.
“We are currently working on establishing partnerships with children’s shelters, but we are open to evolving our efforts to support all communities in need, including students, single mothers and more,” Bittar-Minger says.
Outreach is not the group’s only focus.
“We also want to be able to gather volunteers this time around to give people the opportunities to develop their skills, to grow their talents, to meet like-minded individuals,” says Bittar-Minger. Poets for the People is also continuing to create a space for Ottawa poets to share their stories and build emotional connections.
“We’re bringing all these creatives together because they have a love for poetry. It’s great for them because they have that space … a healing space because there’s so much therapy in being able to tell your story. There’s so much healing there. There’s so much encouragement when people embrace your stories. And at the same time, the ‘for the people’ is them being able to also encourage the audience … sometimes we’re telling a story that is indirectly telling someone else’s truth,” Bittar-Minger says.
Emelie Jaquez, a Christian blogger and spoken word poet who has performed on the Open Mic Night stage, is enthusiastic about the new opportunity.
“I think it’ll be a really cool opportunity just to dive deeper in terms of hearing people’s stories and sharing beliefs,” Jaquez says.
“Open Mic Night was the reason that I started performing spoken word poetry again after a 10-year hiatus,” says Jaquez. “At first I was really scared because it had been so long, but [Bittar-Minger] was just so encouraging and kind. And so I was like, ‘OK, let me give this a try.’
“When you have other people doing the thing that you’re passionate about, not only does it inspire your own writing … you would leave sometimes feeling so inspired by the other people’s work that you would get home and you would want to start writing a new poem … And then number two … just having people to encourage you. I think in anything you’re pursuing, when you have other people in your corner cheering you on, that’s really important as well.”
With her first event at Drip House on Parkdale Avenue, Bittar-Minger says she wants to give other artists the chance to experience the same feeling she did when she first posted her poetry online.
Bittar-Minger says Poets for the People also aims to promote a diverse community of poets.
“Poets for the People is essentially a safe space where spoken words poets of various different backgrounds and walks of life can come together and feel encouraged to share their poems, to share their words, while also encouraging the people,” Bittar-Minger says in a promotional video posted on the organization’s Instagram.
Small businesses are also invited to participate in events as vendors, ranging from art sellers to clothing brands. Because the open mic events draw such a large crowd, it can provide opportunities for exposure to these small businesses, says Bittar-Minger.
“I met Sandra at another event that I was selling smoothies at, at Ottawa U, I think it was a basketball tournament, and she purchased some of our items and said that she liked it and told us she was planning an event and she invited us to sell smoothies there,” says Bille Abdalla, owner and co-founder of Made With Sankofa.
“When I was there I could really feel the sense of community, and just the good vibes, the good energy.”
Khaleefa “Apollo The Child” Hamdan, a spoken word poet and rapper, says that community involvement is essential for groups such as Poets for the People.
“I think in order for anything to grow in the city, there needs to be collaboration with the participants within it,” Hamdan says.
According to Hamdan, Ottawa is the right city to support the growth of Poets for the People.
“There’s definitely a lot of interest in [poetry]. It is a niche thing … but that’s not different than like, the hip-hop culture in Ottawa or the skateboarding culture. There’s all these pockets of culture within the city that you wouldn’t know existed unless you sought it out.”
For those who come across Poets for the People, Bittar-Minger says she wants the space to be comfortable and safe.
“I hope that they feel they’re at home.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the number of poets expected to perform at the Oct. 26 event.
