This Sunday, Feb. 25, Auburn coffee shop, Coffee Mafia, will host Open-Mic Poetry Night from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Open-Mic Poetry Night is a Coffee Mafia tradition that is open to anyone wanting to participate or attend the performance.
Ian Oriol, owner of Coffee Mafia, urges all those who are interested to attend Open-Mic Poetry Night, as he described it as a “free-for-all situation.”
Oriol believes that the Auburn community needs spaces where people can attend events for free. He ensures that this event is free and requires no sign-ups.
Open-Mic Poetry Night is not limited to personal poetry. Oriol encourages attendees to utilize the space to perform any medium of their choice- from personal to published poems, to songs and dances, to dramatic readings of breakup text messages.
This event has a two-hour time slot dedicated to members of the community who have a message they want to share.
Open-Mic Poetry Night began before Coffee Mafia came to be the community coffee shop it is today. Before Coffee Mafia there was Mama Mocha’s, a coffee roastery that now operates out of Opelika, Ala.
Oriol, previously the food supervisor, assistant store manager and general store manager of Mama Mocha’s, wanted to preserve the sense of community created there. Starting with Black History Month Poetry Night, Open-Mic Poetry Night evolved into the monthly tradition it is today with the intent to inspire connection and create a community in the Auburn area.
“I think it’s important for us as a small business to remember that small businesses are directly connected to the community, and it’s one of the pillars, like the core pillars, of why we exist is to interact with the community and to be a community forward business,” Oriol said.
Oriol described Open-Mic Poetry Night as “one piece of the greater puzzle” of Coffee Mafia’s community outreach events, emphasizing their mission of giving back to the community that supports them.
In addition to Open-Mic Poetry Night, Coffee Mafia will be hosting Sip & Serve Drag Dinner on Saturday, Feb. 24. There are two time slots, at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., which will have the same cast and menu. Tickets for this event are $10 and can be purchased on Coffee Mafia’s website.
Coffee Mafia, located at 414 S Gay St in Auburn, Ala., is open daily from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. To stay up to date with Open-Mic Poetry Night and other similar events hosted by Coffee Mafia, follow them on Facebook or Instagram.
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