The Drama in Trauma, The Personal in Poetry
Open mics and poetry events have grown in popularity in recent years, especially among college-goers and early-career Gen Z professionals. Quickly, poetry has become a leading way to express sentiment, anecdotes, and even trauma.
Even on something as public as a stage, an open mic tends to provide some degree of comfort to the storyteller: to experiment, to test the waters, to tell a story that they might be hesitant to share with a big crowd, or just to microdose on the vastness that is catharsis in art.
Like previous generations, Gen Z has moulded open mics and storytelling into its own voice, shaped by openness around mental health and emotional processing, coupled with a rather dark, self-deprecating sense of humour. This strange mix of cynicism and hope has led to the rise of heartfelt, real poetry and stories on open mic platforms. Events like Tape a Tale’s “Ghar” or Kommune’s poetry circles, hosted across 30+ cities in India, have been witness to this firsthand.
And it isn’t just the performers. Even listeners find themselves in these recitations through relatability, shared experiences, or a moment of human connection. And sometimes, with an emphasis on ordinarily scary emotions, “trauma” doesn’t simply remain that anymore. For that piece or poem, it becomes a shared load, a lens through which everyone in the room looks at their own life for a brief instant.
The only flip side to this might be a pain-validation chain. If trauma consistently receives applause, it might become performative. An artist or creator might try to find an aesthetic in an emotion meant to be processed in a healthier way. Or even an audience member who might find relatability or, dangerously, normalisation of a scarring experience upon hearing it performed.
Two opposing magnets remain: How far can one live vicariously and find solace in it? But also, what is humanity if not a shared experience? Writing pain and trauma into performances and poetry shall continue. But its extent and impact are certainly upon us, the audience, to determine.
