The event created space for students to perform and connect with peers.

The New School’s literary magazine Eleven and a Half hosted an open mic at Eugene Lang on Oct. 13. The event provided a space where all student work was welcome and celebrated. Students that had never shared their pieces aloud before felt comfortable doing so, and everyone received resounding snaps and applause. 

New School student Bucky Belwini (he/him) shared two poems after overcoming initial nerves about performing in public. “I didn’t want to sign up at first because I was worried… [but] seeing everyone else go up makes it easier,” he said.

He wasn’t alone, Nicky DeMarie (she/her), a first year student at Lang, had a similar experience. 

“I’ve never read anything in public before… I think it was nerve-wracking just like on a performance level …,” DeMarie said. “I just randomly chose two poems that I thought were cool that I enjoyed and wanted to read out loud.”

Her friend Gabriela Meschoulam (she/her), also a Lang student, was in the same boat. “This is the first time I read something [on stage] ever… my hands were shaking and I didn’t know I was gonna do it,” Gabriela said.

About 20 students shared their work, ranging from poems to stories to shorts. Many people shared their art that was inspired by intimate parts of their life, utilizing the form of abstract poetry and creative retelling. 

Amaya Branche (they/she), a student at Lang who works on the non-fiction and social media teams for the Eleven and a Half Journal, shared two poems titled “Cookies” and “Aquamarine.”

“The first poem was processing the robotic numb feeling from hooking up just to hook up [and] the disassociation of the emotional process of that trauma,” Branche said. “The second was a love poem, not a romantic love poem, but [about] my best friend who I’m not friends with anymore. The love I have for her, the way I idealized her.”

A few students were unaware it was a literary open mic and showed up with instruments. Nonetheless, the event organizers welcomed them and the musicians performed back-to-back about halfway through the program. Tolo Bickford and Chloe Zurkowski performed a duet cover of “Valerie” by Amy Winehouse, and Griffin Thiel performed an original song about LSD. 

The event was organized by the students that run the magazine and their instructor, Jackie Clark. The group is currently working on the journal’s 11th issue, which is set to debut spring 2023.