Chicago Poet Leads Writing Workshop at ECC’s Open Mic Coffee House

For Elgin Community College (ECC) student Gwenna Germo, writing is often a solitary experience. But during the Writers Center’s Open Mic Coffee House on November 3, she joined fellow students and community members to share their work, explore new writing techniques, and connect through poetry.

“Writing can be a really solitary thing; even if you love it, it's kind of isolating,” Germo said. “Being able to come together with a lot of different writers, I think that's really fun for a lot of people.” 

The event featured Chicago-based poet Amari Amai, who led the writing workshop “Meeting the Moment: Urgency in Poetry and Performance.” 

“I like to create urgency of the moment through a social and political lens, and also through my delivery of the work,” Amai said. “I want myself and the audience breathless by the end, where hope fills the silence.”

Amai, whose pronouns are he/they, is a storyteller and self-described “world builder.” They are a 2025 Pushcart Prize and 2026 Best of the Net Nominee, and are currently working on their debut poetry collection with an accompanying series of performances.

During a writing exercise, participants described a person, place, memory, or moment that makes them feel joyful, sad, angry, disgusted, or powerful. This “word bank” was used to create poetry in the workshop. 

The workshop was followed by an open mic, where Amai performed four poems, including “Say Her Name.” ECC students also took the stage, sharing original works exploring success, beauty, mental health, religious trauma, and other personal experiences. 

Among the student participants were Germo, Daniel Garcia, and Maria Fragoso, all Writers Center scholarship recipients who help organize events alongside Joshua Thusat, director of the Writers Center.

Germo, who serves as president of ECC's writing club, The Writers Haven, is studying film and writing and plans to graduate in fall 2027. She values the opportunities these events provide for writers to exchange ideas and support one another.

“I think it's really fun to be able to hear everybody’s different writing and what they’re working on and be able to converse,” Germo said.

For Thusat, bringing poets like Amai to campus is part of a broader effort to introduce aspiring writers to creative communities beyond ECC. 

“One of my goals as the director of the Writers Center is to connect creative writers to other spaces for writers, in Chicago and elsewhere,” said Joshua Thusat, director of the Writers Center at ECC. “I want writers to know where to find other writers.

Amai, who is connected with the Chicago Poetry Center and Crossroads Writers Collective, a Chicago-based writing group for Black queer folks, is the second poet to lead an Open Mic Coffee House event at ECC. Chicago Poet Laureate Mayda del Valle participated in spring 2026. 

The experience also left an impression on Amai, who praised the creativity and support demonstrated by ECC’s student writers. 

“The open mic left me feeling very inspired; each poem was so rich with imagery that some lines are still lingering in my mind,” Amai said.

For Amai, the event offered more than an opportunity to perform. It was a chance to see writers build community through their shared passion for storytelling. 

“It was great to chat and enjoy food, while also seeing the poets commune amongst themselves, sharing their work and praising one another,” they said. “I felt very welcomed.”