Baton Rouge residents spoke, sang and snapped together at the Eden Park Branch library adult poetry slam on Tuesday evening.
About 15 community members spoke at the event, some returning to the mic for a second time. The first 40 minutes were reserved for people who signed up to speak, and after that, the mic was open to whomever. People performed original songs, promoted their books and shared personal stories on love, loss and lust.
Popcorn and lemonade sat in the back of the room as a snack and refreshment. As each poet approached the mic, supportive snaps filled the room. A few presenters prefaced their poems by confessing nerves, but the audience would exclaim encouraging words back. And after the poem, there were more snaps, sometimes combined with claps for extra enthusiasm.
Event host Ayana Ferguson said she wanted to introduce poetry to people who hadn’t used it as an outlet or coping skill before.
“I started this because a lot of people don’t have voices in our community,” Ferguson said. “I wanted to kind of give them a safe space where they just could have their own voice if they felt unheard. Give them a place where they can feel heard in a community where they can feel safe.”
Ferguson said she has hosted about five poetry events since August. Some events were hosted with Her Creative Collective, a women-led brand dedicated to empowering voices, celebrating self-expression, promoting inclusivity and embracing creativity. Ferguson, founder of Her Creative Collective, dedicates herself full-time to the brand.
Many poems throughout the night also hit on topics of Black queerness, culture and artistry. Most people in the room knew each other from previous poetry events Ferguson hosted, evident by the clear camaraderie in the room. When a newcomer presented for the first time, the room snapped louder in support.
The event was also coordinated by library technician Harold Millican. He got his master’s degree in library science from Louisiana State University in 2022 and has used the library for seven years to empower and help the community members around him, he said.
Millican presented four poems throughout the night, and after hearing everyone snap in support of him, he said it felt like therapy.
“You never know who your story is going to impact,” Millican said. “It feels really wonderful to work in a library and use an event like this to bring people together. Raw emotion and the laughter and the fun, and everybody just getting along together. Love, empathy, support—that’s all we really want.”
Millican said he’s always wanted to use writing to tell stories to connect people, whether they’re of the present or the future. This event was just that—community people coming together to share the stories that connect them.
“What better place than the library?” Millican said. “Because this is a community place, and it’s supposed to be safe for everybody.”
This story was reported and written by a student with the support of the non-profit Louisiana Collegiate News Collaborative, an LSU-led coalition of eight universities funded by the Henry Luce and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur foundations.
