Last month I did something a little bit scary.

My friend Nici from my MA is part of a new Manchester literary collective called Bad Language. Every month they run an open mic event at the Castle Hotel in the Northern Quarter. They try and encourage new people to read each time, and last month they had just a slot available. Nici asked me if I wanted to take it over lunch one day, and I said yes before I had a chance to think about how frightening it might be!

So, on a Wednesday night I found myself reading on the stage in the Castle’s back room. I read a story that I first wrote earlier in the year. It was sort of about ghosts, but not really. I was really nervous but luckily I opted to read early on in the evening so I didn’t have too much time to get wound up before I had to take to the microphone. As soon as I started reading I really enjoyed it, and the piece seemed to go down well.

Even better, the whole night was really enjoyable. There was a huge range of stuff being read; from prose to poetry, serious stories to comedic ones. The event happens once a month (the next one is on the 30th November) and I think Innes the beloved and I plan to become regular attendees.

Have you ever read at a literary open mic night?