February open mic scheduled for Friday

The third open mic event of the year sponsored by Silver Quill, Blair's award-winning literary arts magazine, will be held tomorrow during both lunches in the Media Center. The original event was supposed to be held last Friday but was rescheduled due to snow.

Since the date of the event changed, many Blazers have not had a chance to sign up to perform yet, according to Alessandra Mantovani, Managing Editor for Silver Quill. "This will be pretty freestyle since we just put up sign-up sheets - just more free-flowing."

During the open mic, the sponsors plan to encourage students to purchase this year's edition, which costs $6, said Silver Quill Editor-in-Chief Emily Jones. "Our main goal will not be so much about how many people perform but getting our message across," she said. "We have to conduct pre-orders for the magazine shortly after the event so the purpose is to convey that students should pre-order."

The event will begin during 5A lunch and will continue directly into 5B lunch, with no repeat performances. "Students can perform poetry, a short story, a song and more," Mantovani said.

Confirmed participants in the open mic include past performers and newcomers. "We are expecting a couple new faces," Jones said. "There are previous performers we've confirmed including InTone Nation, junior Rian Henry performing with junior Emma Kaufman and Justine Garrin, who will read poetry." Mantovani added that senior Abdul Nuriddin will be playing guitar and senior Michelyn Bouknight will be singing.

The last show was a great success, according to Silver Quill staff. "It was really great. I was surprised at the number of artists," Jones said. "It was packed all the way to the door."

For this open mic event, students can contact Silver Quill staff if they want to perform. "We can call people to perform on the spot or people can come and see us and let us know," Mantovani said. Students can also send an email to silverquillmag@gmail.com or see Silver Quill sponsor Miriam Plotinsky in room 141 to sign up.