Writers’ Block poetry open mic at Kafe Kerouac to end in December, participants speak on its impact

Molly Goheen, Honour Lackey
Fri, 23 Sep 2022 00:25:56 +0000
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Kafe Kerouac sits on N. High St. as a cozy venue for people to enjoy drinks and and live performances. Credit: Juliana Hilton

Scott Woods and Vernall Bristow made their private practice of poetry public in 1998 by founding Writers’ Block Open Mic Night. Twenty-four years later, the weekly poetry night will be enjoying its final season as it comes to a close Dec. 21.

Writers’ Block, hosted at local coffee shop Kafe Kerouac for the last 12 seasons, occurs weekly on Wednesday evenings at 8 p.m. with a $5 entrance fee. However, after 24 seasons, Woods, Bristow and Louise Robertson — an Ohio-based poet — have decided to end their version on Writers’ Block and pass the torch, as they each pursue new endeavors.

“Twenty-four years is a generation, right? Literally, our show is older than half of the poets who come to it. So, you know, at that point, do you need to keep hearing from us? Maybe, it’s time that we hear from y’all, the new poets, the next generation,” Woods said.

Woods said the event draws a community of writers of all ages and experience levels to perform original works for an audience.

“We’re poetry dedicated. No musicians, no ukuleles, none of that. All we want are poems, and because it’s poetry, you never know what you’re going to get, right?” Woods said. “You’re going to get somebody who’s published and award winning, or we’re going to get somebody who wrote it on the back of a napkin last week, and it’s the first time they’ve ever done it.”

After the introduction of Writers’ Block, Woods said he and Bristow were joined by Robertson. The trio has since remained sole directors of Writers’ Block at Kafe Kerouac with Woods being the show’s frontman and its emcee.

Woods said he intends to be the “worst person in the room” when emceeing on stage to hopefully calm nerves and make the crowd feel like a community.

“Everybody else kind of bands together against me, and that’s fine. There’s a balance, and everybody gets it. And because everybody gets it, we can all be ourselves,” Woods said. “We tell people, ‘We don’t know what you’re going to hear.’ The kind of people who can weather that are the kind of people who stick around. It’s not for everyone, but we don’t cater to that idea.”

The show encourages a variety of poetry styles ranging from short haikus to longer monologues with topics — including self-growth, grief, youth and culture, Woods said. With its close proximity to campus, Kafe Kerouac has brought a number of Ohio State students to Writers’ Block.

Christina Szuch, a 2017 Ohio State graduate and Writers’ Block poet, said she first visited the event in 2014 during her sophomore year of college after her previous roommate recommended it.

“She thought that it would be something that I would enjoy,” Szuch said. “The next week, I came out and loved it. The week after that, I brought two of my best friends, and I said, ‘Hey, if you guys don’t think this is a fun experience, I’ll give you back your $5 each.’”

Szuch said did not have to return their money, and she’s still a regular Writers’ Block performer nearly eight years later. She said her weekly visits to Kafe Kerouac’s open mic night got her through tough weeks in college.

“It’s not an exaggeration to say that it’s been life changing. I was writing before that, but not ever in a context where I would share in public,” Szuch said. “I think that, especially through college, there were weeks where this was kind of the one thing that I would look forward to. I would be writing poems and just thinking like, ‘OK, I got to get through this week so that I can read that Writers’ Block.’”

Writers’ Block will continue to occur every Wednesday at 8 p.m. through the end of the year. Woods said if the community wants to continue Writers’ Block after it finishes, they can keep doing it.

“They can’t keep doing Writers’ Block, but they can do something new,” Woods said. “And I’m happy to sit in the back of the room like they’ve been sitting in the back of my room.”