Phog welcomes back TOAST

by Alice Hewitt.

For aspiring poets in Windsor, Phog is the place to showcase their work.

Phog welcomed back TOAST: Open Mic Poetry Feb. 20. Poets from its early days as JUICE open mic night when the bar first opened were present along with a number of people giving it their first try.

Tom Lucier, co-owner of Phog, said the event was hugely successful.

“It has these weird life spans where it will exist with one group for about 18 months to 2 1/2 years and then they just wear the crowd out and then a new person takes over,” said Lucier. “It’s usually in cycles of people at the university so you have a lot of students who come out and try stuff out and they’re experimenting and they’re finding their way with their creative writing and stuff, so it’s been happening for a long time.”

All of the participants had to write down their names and wait for hosts Nicole Coffman and Michael Beneteau to call them up to stage. Upon being called, they were given five minutes to perform their poetry to the crowd.

First time host Coffman said she saw an empty space for a host at Phog, took the initiative and stepped up.

“I don’t normally think I’m the best person to host poetry because I don’t really know the rules or anything. I just sort of do what I want with it and I’ve just been learning how to memorize and stuff like that,” said Coffman. “I enjoy slam poetry quite a lot and hope to continue with that.”

If it remains successful, TOAST poetry will continue to be held on the third Tuesday of every month at Phog.