On Tuesday September 27th, Archives Coffee House on University Avenue, hosted the English Department’s first Open Mic Night of the semester. Surrounded by the warm light of the coffee house and floating candles above the audiences’ head, the atmosphere of the night was exciting. Every semester UND’s English Department hosts three open mic nights where students and community members can share their creative works.  

This is a part of an ongoing effort to grow and foster a literary community here at UND. UND is filled with artists of all kinds, but our literary artists are held in high esteem at the English Department. Along with open mic nights, the department also has a literary magazine, Floodwall, which publishes an issue every semester and a speaker series where they bring in authors and industry members for a webinar style Zoom conference.  

Last Tuesday was a huge success with Archives packed with participants and audience members. Hosted by the English Department’s Dr. Patrick Henry and emceed by Brenden Kempe, the audience saw a little bit of everything. There were many original poems read, a few stories in progress, and even two creative non-fiction works.  

These open mic nights are a wonderful time to see the creative work being produced by campus members and to support the arts at UND. While small, the English Department, goes out of its way to support and encourage UND students across majors in their literary goals. The next open mic night will be October 26th, 7 pm at Archives Coffee House, and I strongly encourage everyone who can to attend! 

Aubrey Roemmich is a Dakota Student Section Editor. She can be reached at [email protected].