Curtin Writers Club Rebrand their Annual Open Mic Event

Curtin Writers Club has announced their brand new Performance Poetry event for Semester 2.

The event is scheduled to occur on Thursay 3 August from 5pm to 8pm at ClubHQ (106B).

Through this event, the CWC committee hopes to assist members in experimenting with different forms of poetry, while also giving them an opportunity to improve both their written and performance skills.

Vice President Haylie Ventouras mentions how CWC also intends to emphasise the importance and significance of poetry within the club.

“Most of the time, poetry is often overlooked. But we personally view it as a crucial part of writing, and thus, a crucial part of CWC,” Haylie says.

Participants have the opportunity to win $100 in cash for the Best Performance of the night, with runner-up cash prizes also being offered to those who come in second and third place.

Performances will be judged by the CWC committee based on audience engagement, verbal skills, as well as the originality of the piece.

Although pizza and sushi platters will be provided at the event, the CWC committee still encourages attendees with dietary requirements to BYO.

Image Credit: Curtin Writers Club

In previous years, CWC held yearly Open Mic events at the TAV, but according to President Louise Kaestner, the turnouts weren’t necessarily large.

“CWC’s Treasurer, Audrey Foote, mentioned how the Open Mic event felt exclusive to slam poetry, and she wondered if we could allow members to write for performance instead,” Louise says.

“We then decided to rebrand the event to be more inclusive to other forms of poetry, and encourage more people to participate.”

Last semester, Curtin Writers Club focused heavily on events related to ‘Coze’ — the club’s annual anthology that showcases their members’ prose and poetry, and features artwork from Curtin Illustration Club members.

However, this didn’t deter them from experimenting with new events such as casual meetups, book sales — and most recently, their Worldforge Workshop, where they collaborated alongside Curtin Tabletop to teach members how to write for TTRPGs.

When asked about any other events CWC have planned for the rest of the year, Haylie jokes that there are simply too many to count.

“At the moment, we have a second book sale, collaborations with other clubs, and more events that appeal to both hardcore and casual writers planned for this semester,” Haylie says.