Queer Amsterdam x Unwanted Words – Queer Open Mic at Meervart

What best way to celebrate Amsterdam Pride than with queer art? 🏳️‍🌈📚

A few weeks ago, a group of talented queer artists took Amsterdam Pride by storm when they performed their literary pieces during our Queer Open Mic event at Meervart. With this event, we wanted to encourage queer artists to unleash their voice through whichever literary modality they desired, from spoken word and poetry, to op-eds, drama, and unconventional performance. The first line-up comprised four performers, followed by an open mic set during which more people were welcomed to spontaneously grab the mic and share their work with the crowd.

Our performers 🎙️:

A coffee specialist by day and a poet by night, Madhu uses poetry, storytelling, and comedy as a way to make sense of the world and herself. She has a background in chemical engineering, food innovation, and is currently investigating human rights issues in agriculture.

Under a new moon, Vlinder captures shimmers of beauty in words and images. A poet, a trans theorist, and a voracious poster on Instagram, Vlinder invited us to emerge together from the world’s cocoon. After all, life is a continuous transformation; from egg, to larva, to pupa, to butterfly.

An Austrian-Taiwanese writer who uses the lens of horror to explore queer and feminine themes, Elena‘s unconventional angle on poetry gave us chills.

Lui Montes is a queer Mexican spoken word artist based in Rotterdam. Lui’s piece explored themes of queer joy, intimacy, and spirituality from a decolonised, intersectional lens on identity. They are also the founder of Unwanted Words, and the creator of the “1st Queer & Feminist Poetry Awards” (2020) and the “Queer & Feminist Poetry Anthology” Vol 1 (2021).

Many special thanks to our performers for blessing our stage with their art, as well as to all the professional, amateur, and curious artists that shared their pieces during the open mic set. We hope to see you again next time!

Interested in joining our Queer Poetry Nights or becoming part of our community? Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram to stay up-to-date with our upcoming events. Who knows, maybe you’ll end up on our stage sharing your art too! Until next time – be safe, be queer, and take care of each other.