A man who has been writing poetry for 24 years performed and hosted a poetry open mic on Tuesday, October 8th, at Deep Vellum Books in Deep Ellum. Vellum-Ouroboros Open Mic occurs every Tuesday night.

James Barret Rodehaver, known as “Bear” in the poetry industry, presented Vellum-Ouroboros-Open Mic alongside co-host Nadia Wolnisty. Rodehaver, 30, is a published poet who has been writing since age seven, and has been hosting the open mic for over a year.

“There are people that are coming off the street, and they’ve never done poetry before” Rodehaver said. “They just blow you away; and then you get the regulars—you always see something awesome. You get to see their growth as a writer, it’s really cool to see.”

Five artists performed poems on a podium out of the 15 attendees to the open mic. The rest of the attendees attentively listened to the performers while snapping and clapping throughout the poems in display of approval.

First-time performer at Vellum-Ouroboros, Rubeena Angum, read several of her poems to a nodding audience, including a poem that depicted a young couple she observed during her time at the University of Pennsylvania. A member of the audience let out a loud “wow” when Angum finished performing the poem. Angum has been writing since eleventh grade but is still unpublished. However, she said it is time to publish her work because of her age. Angum would like to attend the open mic again due to the supportive atmosphere.

“It’s a good concept because it gives an opportunity for the new voices to come and share what they have,” Angum said. “When you hear art it means it’s also giving you an impetus to create art; it’s like a lot of clouds meeting together and creating a cloud rainbow.”

Not every poet that attends Vellum-Ouroboros Open Mic performs. Aly Leepei attended the open mic for the first time to check it out before deciding to attend a second time and perform.

“I haven’t published anything it’s mostly on my Instagram and yeah that’s it; I’m like working on my website right now, so I can put it up there but it’s just kind of on the internet,” Leepei said.

Anyone is welcome to attend the open mic, but poets who want to perform need to bring at least three poems of which one should be someone else’s work. Wolnisty, also a published poet, checks in the poets who want to perform. Wolnisty has published several books and runs a literary magazine. She said she enjoys co-hosting the open mic because it creates a welcoming space for both starting and experienced artists. Anyone who performs a poem is a poet in Wolnisty’s opinion.

“Everyone starts somewhere right? Even if this is the first time you’ve written a poem and performed it— you’re a poet. You’ve done it,” Wolnisty said.

Starting December, Vellum-Ouroboros Open mic night will switch venues to Interaba Books in Preston Hollow.