People filled the corridor-like room of Flagstaff Brewing Company, and one by one, they took to the mic in the corner of the bar that held the attention of many. Words of peach trees, passion, birth, grief and the impact of poetry on one鈥檚 life flowed out of lips, through the mic and into the ears of all present. Lights flickered behind the readers while passersby gazed through the windows to catch sight of the performances. At the end of each reading, the sounds of clapping and cheering overtook the room.
This was the scene at the Poet Brews open mic on Dec. 12, where poets and writers gathered to read their work at Flag Brew. Margarita Cruz is the founder and host of Poet Brews and has been running the open mic every Tuesday night since she started it in March.
Cruz is an NAU English adjunct professor, president of the Northern Arizona Book Festival and the marketing and event coordinator at Bookmans Entertainment Exchange. She said she started Poet Brews because she missed having weekly writer events that were more prevalent before the pandemic. As a previous employee at Flag Brew, Cruz reached out to the event coordinator about holding the open mic at the bar and began creating flyers and informing people in her communities about the new event.
鈥淚 really found that there was such a strange, really, really exciting literature landscape up here,鈥� Cruz said. 鈥淢y landlord was a poet and my mentors were poets and writers and fiction writers, and I just felt like the literary community was so open and so intimate in sharing stories and accepting one another that I just wanted to make someone else feel like that.鈥�
Since March, the mic at Flag Brew has opened at 7 p.m. each Tuesday for Poet Brews, and while 鈥減oet鈥� is in the event title, participants are free to read any written work. Past performances have included reading letters and last-minute writing on cocktail napkins, with readers ranging from published writers to first-time poets.
Cruz received her master of fine arts in creative writing from NAU in 2020, and through that program, she met other writers who are now regular participants in Poet Brews. Tyler Mitchell is a recent graduate of the program who has been a part of the spoken-word group since its earlier days.
Mitchell works at Salina Bookshelf, Inc. and taught poetry classes at NAU this past semester. He said the Flagstaff writing community is incredible, and Poet Brews is an outlet to make it stronger.
鈥淧oet Brews is such an amazing way to get into [the writing community],鈥� Mitchell said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 such a beautiful, welcoming environment. Margarita herself is probably one of the, if not the, pillar of the writing community, and she has been for so long, especially at a young age, so who else better to welcome you into the community.鈥�
Mitchell said the Tuesday night crowd usually contains regulars, with some being people who had never written before attending the open mic. Mitchell said he has never gone to Poet Brews and not seen a familiar face aside from Cruz鈥檚.聽
On the Dec. 12 open mic night, several of Mitchell鈥檚 students were among the participants.聽
鈥淎s a teacher, just to see your students feel so passionate about poetics, be so engaged in what you're trying to teach them and to have really, really incredible results, especially in real-time, that was such a beautiful experience,鈥� Mitchell said. 鈥淚t's such a rewarding experience, and I'm really happy that Poet Brews gives us space for that.鈥�
The size of the open mic ranges each week, but on Dec. 12, it saw its largest number of participants with 22 people reading written work. Regardless of the size of the group, however, the event continues until everyone is done reading鈥攐ne night it went until midnight with a group smaller than 22.
The spoken-word group has captivated many local writers, but it has also been a place for tourists and travelers.
鈥淲hen we first began, we actually got a lot of out-of-towners by accident, who they'd either seen something on a calendar or they were just stopping in waiting for the train, and it just felt so magical those first few nights,鈥� Cruz said.
Reece Gritzmacher, a regular participant of Poet Brews, said one of their favorite experiences with the open mic group is watching people from out of town engage in the event.
There have been multiple instances, Gritzmacher said, of people who travel from Phoenix for work and make Poet Brews a regular part of their visit; the group welcomes all who are interested.
鈥淭here's no intense peer pressure, but there鈥檚 cheerleading like, 鈥楬ey, you want to share, share something?鈥� Gritzmacher said. 鈥淪o then you will get folks all the time, like this isn't a one-time thing, just scrolling on their phones finding something, maybe something that they wrote five years ago, and sharing it, and that's really special.鈥�
Gritzmacher also got connected with Cruz through NAU鈥檚 MFA Creative Writing program and has been regularly attending her open mics since spring.
鈥淢argarita is a treasure,鈥� Gritzmacher said. 鈥淚 really think that she's like the beating heart of the Flagstaff literary community, and I mean, there are so many wonderful writers and organizers here, I just think hosting a weekly open mic is an incredible act of generosity.鈥�
Cruz plans to keep Poet Brews running throughout the winter. She said she will continue in-person events and may explore digital options depending on weather and snow closures, but no matter, she hopes to keep bringing people together to share spoken word as long as possible.