Last night at Purely Poetry was just one of those night that make you think, "wow, people are great!" Everything clicked, there was a great vibe in the room, everyone was friendly, relaxed, and a load of connections were made.

We strive to foster that type of environment, where everyone is equal, and where everyone feels comfortable speaking or just chatting to the person sitting next to them. The emphasis is on 'open' in our open mic nights: we open the doors, give you the mic and let the magic happen. And we're truly blessed that so many of you choose the night to share your work in and to come listen.

We thought that July perhaps might be a quiet one (it usually is over the summer months). But oh, we were wrong, and happy to be wrong as we had a stormer of a poetry reading!

So we what to thank our wonderful readers:
Vincent Hurson, Tracy Chan, Andrew Beattie, Conor Clarke, Laura Cameron, Aidan O'Reilly, Lora Corr, Connaire McCullough, Ray Givans, Patrick Taggart, David Braziel, Peter Adair, Jason Ashford, David Davies, Mary, Mark Brownlee, 'The Thanki Two', Patrick McNicholl, Anthony Ferguson, Clodagh Harvey, Rebecca McGivern and Willetta Fleming.

A special mention to 'The Thanki Two', our first brother and sister joint reading! 

Remember, we take a summer break in August, but we'll be announcing a few events over the summer. In the meantime, remember that we are in Armagh for a late night open mic in the bar at the Market Place Theatre & Arts Centre, for The John Hewitt International Summer School. That's on at 10pm, Thursday 30th July, and it's free. See you then!