June's Moonlit Mic
Open Mic on May 11th at 8:30PM EST
“Sagittarius is optimistic, restless, progressive and adventurous. They are seekers of knowledge, lovers of freedom, and believers in truth.” — Linda Goodman
New to Moonlit Mics? (catch up here)
Moonlit Mics
A monthly open-mic series for poetry and prose lovers alike, sharing the art of spoken word under the ambience of a full moon. These nights are for sharing, listening, learning, evolving, and fully immersing ourselves in the magic.
The Full Moon is a time of culmination, illumination, and heightened energy—the peak of the lunar cycle. It brings things into full view, revealing clarity and emotion. In literature and storytelling, the Full Moon is often associated with revelations and the manifestation of creative ideas.
June’s Moonlit Mic Details
Full Moon in Sagittarius (Strawberry Moon)
Date: Wednesday, June 11th 2025 | Time: 5:30PM PST / 8:30EST
Virtual : Zoom Link
Strawberry Moon in Sagittarius: Ripen & Release
June’s full moon is known as the Strawberry Moon, named by Algonquin tribes and colonial farmers for the brief, sweet season of wild berries. It marks a time of ripening—when what we’ve nurtured begins to bear fruit. This year, the moon rises in Sagittarius, infusing the moment with candid truths, fire, freedom, and expansive thought. Sagittarius is the seeker, the truth-teller, the one who roams beyond the borders of the known. Let this moon be a celebration of possibility. Of sweetness earned. Of dreams just beyond the horizon.
Featured Reader for May’s Moonlit Mic: Carling McManus
Carling McManus lives on a mountainside orchard in West Virginia whose poetry has appeared in Pleiades, Best New Poets, Cream City Review, Southeast Review, The Beloit Poetry Journal, Palette Poetry, among others.
Carling has received scholarships and fellowships to Bread Loaf and the Virginia Center for Creative Arts and is a Tin House, Community of Writers, Kenyon Review Writers Workshop, and Under the Volcano alum. A survivor of conversion therapy, Carling is an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ civil rights.
Winner of Carve Magazine’s 2021 Prose & Poetry Contest and Pigeon Pages 2022 Poetry Contest, Carling’s work has been nominated for Best of the Net, was selected as a finalist for both the Frontier Poetry Nature and Place Prize and the Iowa Review Award, and was longlisted for Frontier Poetry’s New Voices Competition and The Poetry Society’s National Poetry Competition.
Co-founder and CEO of 84 Agency, a communications firm dedicated to amplifying the impact of change-makers and nonprofits, Carling lives with their spouse in Mink Shoals, West Virginia with their two border collies, Zeke and Ettie.
Open-Mic Readers:
Kenneth Baker:
Ayün Akilah: they/them. afrolatinx, trans/non-binary artist and healer with mapuche ancestry, born in cukson (“tucson”).
Shelley Lloyd: is a queer, disabled writer, and scholar with a PhD in Rhetoric from Clemson University. Originally from Florida, they write creative nonfiction blending personal musings with theoretical reflections on disability, time, and life’s uncanny nature. Their work has appeared in These Fragile Lilacs, Wordgathering, APROSEXIA, and BorgDiem, and their latest chapbook, A Reading, is out now from Bottlecap Press. When not overthinking and contemplating the absurd, they can be found hanging out with their cat, who, unsurprisingly, is much better at managing their time.
Spot Open (Sign Up Here)
Spot Open (Sign Up Here)
Spot Open (Sign Up Here)
Waitlist spots are usually confirmed the morning of.
Wait List (Sign Up Here)
Wait List (Sign Up Here)
Event Format (1 Hour):
Welcome & Opening Remarks (5 min)
Featured Reader (10 min)
Reading / Process / Backstory
Audience Q&A (if applicable)
Following Readers (24 - 42 mins)
Brief introductions of each reader (6-8).
Each writer has approximately [4-7] minutes to read.
Social 15
The event is officially over, but those that wish to hang back and catch up are welcome to unmute their mics, and share what the past month has brought in their writing careers.
Admission: Public Event
Additional Information: Next Event is July 10thTo Sign up for future Moonlit Mic’s please do so HERE
Please join us for an evening of poetry, prose, and insight under the light of the Full Moon! The event is public, so share the Z-link with friends and family.
Are you Interested in being a Featured Reader? Please find an open month on the sign up sheet and submit a requested time and date, along with your bio and any recent publications.
