Open Mic participant Quentin performs with ASL interpreter Billy from Joyful Signing
Open Mic participant Crista performs with ASL interpreter Billy from Joyful Signing
Open Mic creator and host María Fernanda with ASL interpreter Jennifer rom Joyful Signing
the hour: open mic
In Person
2025 — Present / 1 Season, 2 Events
Sign up on-site to share your work aloud at our newest open mic series curated by award-winning poet María Fernanda (she/hers). Bring poems, songs, raps, monologues, positive affirmations and more! Literary work at any creative stage is welcomed: new sh*t, draft, final, published, published-but-the-poem-been-lookin-a-little-different-now and more!
María Fernanda believes that Poetry, like us, exists in many forms—spoken word, blues, performance/theatre, hip-hop, and more. Hosted by poet María Fernanda (she/hers). This event is one-hour.
NEXT:
The Hour Returns on Thursday, July 10, 2025
“Poems are works—spoken, sang, hummed, written—created with the intention to express an idea or emotion.” — María Fernanda
Sign up on-site to share your work aloud at our newest open mic series curated by award-winning poet María Fernanda (she/hers). She believes that Poetry, like us, exists in many forms—spoken word, blues, performance/theatre, hip-hop, and more. Bring poems, songs, raps, monologues, positive affirmations and more! Literary work at any creative stage is welcomed: new sh*t, draft, final, published, published-but-the-poem-been-lookin-a-little-different-now and more! Each reader will have approximately 3 minutes to make room for as many readers as possible. Hosted by poet María Fernanda (she/hers).
2025 Season
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“Poems are works—spoken, sang, hummed, written—created with the intention to express an idea or emotion.” — María Fernanda
Sign up on-site to share your work aloud at our newest open mic series curated by award-winning poet María Fernanda (she/hers). She believes that Poetry, like us, exists in many forms—spoken word, blues, performance/theatre, hip-hop, and more. Bring poems, songs, raps, monologues, positive affirmations and more! Literary work at any creative stage is welcomed: new sh*t, draft, final, published, published-but-the-poem-been-lookin-a-little-different-now and more! Each reader will have approximately 3 minutes to make room for as many readers as possible. Hosted by poet María Fernanda (she/hers). This event is one-hour.
María Fernanda (she/hers) is a poet from DC. Her work explores the intimacy of sisterhood, the anchor of intergenerational coexistence, and grief. Awarded the Norma Elia Cantú Award in Creative Writing, her work appears in The Healing Verse Poetry Line, Cave Canem’s Dogbytes, Cheryl Clarke's born in a bed of good lessons.
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“Poems are works—spoken, sang, hummed, written—created with the intention to express an idea or emotion.” — María Fernanda
Sign up on-site to share your work aloud at our newest open mic series curated by award-winning poet María Fernanda (she/hers). She believes that Poetry, like us, exists in many forms—spoken word, blues, performance/theatre, hip-hop, and more. Bring poems, songs, raps, monologues, positive affirmations and more! Literary work at any creative stage is welcomed: new sh*t, draft, final, published, published-but-the-poem-been-lookin-a-little-different-now and more! Each reader will have approximately 3 minutes to make room for as many readers as possible. Hosted by poet María Fernanda (she/hers). This event will include a mini-workshop element. This event is one-hour.
María Fernanda (she/hers) is a poet from DC. Her work explores the intimacy of sisterhood, the anchor of intergenerational coexistence, and grief. Awarded the Norma Elia Cantú Award in Creative Writing, her work appears in The Healing Verse Poetry Line, Cave Canem’s Dogbytes, Cheryl Clarke's born in a bed of good lessons.
The Hour
Launched!
“Poems are works—spoken, sang, hummed, written—created with the intention to express an idea or emotion.” — María Fernanda
Award-winning poet María Fernanda believes that Poetry, like us, exists in many forms—spoken word, blues, performance/theatre, hip-hop, and more. The Hour, a series created and hosted by María Fernanda, invited the public to share a variety of literary work to share with the Union Market community. Open mic participants brought poems, songs, positive affirmations and more. One artist even shared an excerpt from his forthcoming poetry book launching in a few weeks. Another open mic participant sang an original song. Several participants shared moving work and, once at the mic, indicated that they were not originally planning to share.