Kyle Seamus Brosnihan & Irene Vázquez

Join us for the Brooklyn Poets Friday Night Open, which begins with an open mic and culminates in readings by two featured poets. Our featured poets on July 21st will be Kyle Seamus Brosnihan and Irene Vázquez.

6:00 PM: open mic signup begins

6:30 to 7:45 PM: open mic

8 to 8:30 PM: featured readers

Each reader for the open mic can read for up to a four-minute set. Participants can purchase one of eight tickets in advance to reserve an open mic spot. Once those tickets sell out, all other participants who’d like to read for the open mic can purchase a ticket to sign up at the door on a first-come, first-serve basis. There will be time for about 16–18 readers.

Guests can purchase tickets to attend in person at 144 Montague Street or virtually via Zoom (note: virtual guests cannot read for the open mic). For in-person attendance, advance online ticket sales end at 5 PM on the day of the event. After that, tickets for in-person attendance can be purchased at the door until we reach capacity. Tickets for virtual attendance will be available until 6:30 PM. A Zoom link will be emailed to all ticket holders. Participants are encouraged to purchase tickets in advance for in-person attendance, as there are limited seats. Brooklyn Poets members take $5 off.

Note that by participating in the Friday Night Open, you agree to abide by our code of conduct and COVID-19 policy. We strongly encourage all attendees to wear masks (regardless of vaccination status) except readers at a safe distance on stage. Our full policy can be found at the end of the event description. Brooklyn Poets reserves the right to dismiss from our programs any participant found to be in violation of these policies. Thank you for respecting our community.

Closed captions will be available for the event through the Zoom livestream. For more information and to request additional accommodations, contact us at [email protected].

Featured Poets

Kyle Seamus Brosnihan is a Filipino-American poet and playwright. Raised in Nebraska, he now lives in Brooklyn. He received his MFA in poetry from Brooklyn College in 2022. His poetry has been published in Electric Literature, the Brooklyn Rail, the MarginsHADBarrelhouse, Beautiful Days Press and elsewhere. His chapbook TISOY was published in 2023 by Bottlecap Press. His chapbook Lemons is forthcoming from Bullshit Lit.

Irene Vázquez is a Black Mexican American poet, journalist, translator and editor, originally from Houston, Texas, the unceded territory of the Karankawa and Ishak peoples. They write at the intersection of Black cultural work, placemaking and the environment. Irene's debut chapbook, Take Me To the Water, was released by Bloof Books in 2022. Irene is a Best of the Net– and Pushcart Prize–nominated writer, whose work can be found in Muzzle, the Oxford American and the Brooklyn Rail, among other places. By day, Irene works at Levine Querido, editing books about feisty twelve-year-olds. When not writing, Irene likes drinking coffee, watching the WNBA and reminding folks that the South has something to say.