ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Tampa Bay-area writers will gather at the Kerouac House in St. Petersburg Sunday, 3 to 6 p.m., to share their poetry at an open mic in the home of iconic author Jack Kerouac.
Tickets are $10 and can be purchased in advance here.
The event is hosted by the Jack Kerouac House of St. Petersburg, a nonprofit organization that manages the house, where the Beat writer lived out the final years of his life.
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Poet and board member Larry Jaffe met Ken Burchenal, who runs the organization and purchased the home to create an artistic hub in St. Pete centered on Kerouac, at a poetry event in December.
“After that, I visited the house and I felt like a kid in a candy store,” Jaffe told Patch.
Find out what's happening in St. Petewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
They decided to collaborate on regular open mic events in the home, launching the gatherings, which take place in Kerouac’s former living room, in March.
“We all wanted to continue his legacy, and I said, ‘How about a monthly reading here?’” Jaffe said.
Each month features a different featured poet followed by open mic readers. August’s featured author is Tampa poet Gianna Russo.
“We’ve had some really good features,” Jaffe said, including St. Pete College professor Greg Byrd, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York City poet Peter Balakian and former Florida poet laureate Peter Meinke.
“A lot of magic happens when poets are reading there,” he added. “You really tap into those Beat roots and the poets feel it, the audience feels it and I feel it.”
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