On the rare occurrence of Leap Day, New School students flocked to the Lang Cafe for Eleven and a Half’s semesterly open mic night, a cherished tradition hosted by the literary magazine. The tables that lined the glass above the staircase held free pizza and water for guests and readers. Once everyone sat down the event moderator Amy Sihler took to the podium and a night of laughter and emotion began.
Short stories, recipes, poems, journal entries, and personal essays poured out of the writers as they shared their creations with their fellow students. Each participant brought something special to the mic. Topics ranged from a story about an opium-addicted frog living in LA to a vulnerable telling of navigating life as an international student in the United States. There was also a poem calling out “fake cunts” and a heartwarming piece about loving someone on a different continent. The warm atmosphere encouraged the audience to take in every word and sent them on an emotional roller coaster.
The literary magazine publishes a new issue once a year and hosts one open mic night per semester to gain traction and attract prospective writers and members. With its next issue debuting on April 11, the open mic accomplished its goal of garnering more visibility for the magazine — but more importantly, it provided a sense of community The New School desperately needs.
“I think it’s helpful to see other people who maybe you’ve seen around. We all have people we see around school but never met,” said Sihler, the event’s moderator and Fiction Editor for Eleven and a Half. “I think often people at Lang can feel sort of incongruous with their peers…And the open mic is just a way to build community,”
Not only does the open mic night provide a space for community within The New School, but it also allows attendees to build close relationships, with the event flier reading “Come here to find the love your life.” While this seems to be nothing more than a smart marketing technique, the open mic does have a history of being the place to fall in love.
Jackie McCarran, a sophomore considering joining Eleven and a Half joked about attending the the event to meet her soulmate. “I actually did meet the love of my life at the last fall open mic.”
“My current boyfriend read, and I read, and we both thought ‘that person was good’. And then we talked to each other later. So when I saw the ‘meet the love of your life’ there on the poster I thought there must have been some spy who was mimicking or making fun of me,” McCarran said.
The Eleven and a Half open mic night is the place to meet people, but it’s also a place to go to vent. Thomas Right, a senior majoring in Cultural Studies, read a poem he had written moments before going up to the podium, called “Too Many Fake Cunts,” which was admittedly funny and filled with classic Gen Z humor.
When asked about the inspiration behind his poem, he simply stated, “This bitch in the room. I wrote it right before I said it.” According to Right, this person didn’t seem to know they were the inspiration for Right’s impromptu poem, even though he claimed his muse knew who they were as he was reading.
The Eleven and a Half open mic night was a success filled with emotions and vulnerability as well as laughter and creativity. It’s the place to go when you’re feeling happy, sad, lonely, and everything in between. “I think it creates this level of comfortability cause there is a shared respect that has to happen in an open mic like this, and I think that it’s really wonderful to bring people together,” Sihler said.