The Yakima Coffeehouse Poets presents Open Mic Night on the second Wednesday of each month, September through May, usually held at the Larson Gallery, YVC Campus, 1606 W. Nob Hill Blvd (across the street from the old Larson Gallery).
Our Open Mic meetings usually begin at 6:30pm (unless otherwise noted) with doors open 30 minutes before as a reception.
Next Open Mic:
Wednesday,
October 14, 2026 at 6:30pm
(Doors open at 6:00pm for a Reception prior to the Reading)
at the Larson Gallery
Featured Poet: Leanne Ries
Hi poetry lovers!
We’ve got another open mic this coming wednesday at the New Larson Gallery (1606 W Nob Hill blvd). Doors open at 6:00, poetry starts at 6:30
This month we have Leanne Ries as our featured reader.
LeAnne Ries is a poet, artist, mother, grandmother, and dog mom to her astute little dog, Bunny. Now retired, she and her husband, Gerry, live in a house on the side of a canyon in Yakima, and enjoy watching the hawks overhead.
LeAnne earned a BA in English from Berkeley and has a master’s degree in Transpersonal Psychology. In her current collection, Map Room, LeAnne leaves markers, instructions, and maps for both the living and the dead, navigational tools for both familiar and liminal spaces.
The Calling, and At Sea, LeAnne’s two previous poetry books are available at our local bookstore, Inklings, and on Amazon.
LeAnne is happy to host and looks forward to hearing the voices and poems of everyone who joins her.
If you wish to read at our October Open Mic, please sign up via email:
Like the Poetry contest, Open Mic Night got its start at Allied Arts. The event was initiated in 2005 by local poet Elaine Smith. Then encouraged by the former Allied Arts director Elizabeth Herres Miller and her successor Jessica Moskwa. They felt a monthly forum where local poets could read original work would complement the annual contest. They were right.
Poets Claire Carpenter, Dotty Armstrong, Chuck Forster, Rod Nelson, Linda Brown, Ed Stover, Elaine Smith, and Mark Fuzie have kept Open Mic alive.
Open Mic Night was popular at the outset and remains so as a program now run by the Yakima Coffeehouse Poets. Come read a poem and meet your fellow Yakima poets.