Upstairs at The Poetry Cafe are friendly staff serving warming veggie soups, stews and coffee who I suspect are all mega poets just disguised as baristas. I’m probably right. Downstairs there’s a buzzy performance space which on Tuesdays hosts an open mic night, attracting a wildly diverse group of poets. Some of the performers might be published poets testing new material or performance poets, others verse for fun. Each have five minutes and are warmly encouraged by a super friendly crowd. Cafe staff told me about a young man who wrote his first ever poem on National Poetry Day. Later that same day walking past the cafe he noticed a sign for the Open Mic night and was inspired to perform. That’s real life poetry right there and it’s awesome. Sign up on the night to perform.

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