The University of Miami USpeak Open Verse and Performance Series kicks off its second season Friday, September 24 with Jamaican writer and poet Geoffrey Philp.

On eight Friday nights throughout the school year, UM students, faculty, and Miami-area community members will gather for evenings of lively literary activity at the Oasis Deli at Whitten University Center. In addition to a featured reader, audience members are invited to share their own short stories and poems. The open mic session showcases the talent of a wide spectrum of writers, from UM graduate and undergraduate students to community members and high school students. It is not usual to see 20 people signed up to read their work on any given night.

“Students named our open mic series USpeak because they wanted everyone on campus to know the program was about the community—not just published writers, but people who are freshmen and professors by day and spoken-word artists by night,” says M. Evelina Galang, director of creative writing at UM.

The first USpeak event of the year continues the English Department’s yearlong celebration of Lester Goran’s 50th teaching anniversary by featuring Goran’s former student, UM Creative Writing alumnus Geoffrey Philp. Philp will read excerpts from his newest collection of poems, Dub Wise, which is scheduled to be released by Peepal Tree Press later this month. In addition to writing poetry and fiction, Philp teaches English and chairs the North Campus’ College Preparatory Department at Miami Dade College.

USpeak is recorded and available to listeners on iTunes and is sponsored, in part, by the University of Miami’s Creative Writing Program, English Department, and Auxiliary Services. Doors open at 6 p.m. and programs begin at 6:30 p.m. Audience members are invited to bring a poem or a page of prose and to read during the open mic portion of the evening.

USpeak events are free and open to the public. They will also take place on October 8, November 12, December 3, January 28, February 25, March 11, and April 15. For more information about Philp or about the series, click here.