ALPENA ­– Whether you’re reading your own poetry or that of a beloved poet, you’re welcome to share from 5:30-7 p.m. Friday at the Alpena County Library.

In the Poetics Lab’s April event, people of all ages are welcome to take to the mic to read, perform, sing, play an instrument, or share their creativity with others however they see fit.

This is a free event to celebrate National Poetry Month in April.

Mitchel Dipzinski founded the Poetics Lab with Dominique Witten.

“We’ve had an open mic night every month so far this year,” Dipzinski said.

The events have been held at various venues, including Art in the Loft and Thunder Bay Winery.

“The only month we are taking off is actually next month,” because they will be hosting a poetry workshop, Dipzinski said.

“We will be talking about our chapbook cover contest, a little bit, at the beginning of the event,” he said of Friday’s event. “Every year that we run a program, we publish a chapbook for all of our workshop participants, and I’ll have a little bit more information about what the workshop looks like this year.”

The chapbook gets released in August, he said.

“What we try to do is we bring in a different artist every year to design the cover,” Dipzinski said.

He said artists of all ages are welcome to submit their designs, and more information will be presented about that at Friday’s event.

Dipzinski encourages everyone to attend and/or participate in Friday’s open mic night.

“Nervousness is OK,” he explained. “You’re allowed to be nervous.”

But he said the environment is very welcoming, and it is OK to be vulnerable.

He said it takes courage to get up there, and you will be supported and encouraged.

“We try to really help and, kind of, bring that new poet along,” Dipzinski said. “And a lot of our poets are brand-new. We only started this program last year. And a lot of them started fresh right there.”

If you plan to perform, please sign up online by clicking on the link on the Facebook event page, April’s Poetry Month Open-Mic Celebration, or call 989-272-8148. If you can’t make it in person, but would like to read or perform, email director@tpoeticslab.com for the virtual link. Tune in virtually on YouTube @tpoeticslab, or via Facebook Live at The Poetics Lab.

To learn more about the Poetics Lab, visit tpoeticslab.com.

He added that in honor of National Poetry Month, he encourages everyone to open up a poetry book or five until they find a poet whose words resonate with them.

“A poem is meant to make you feel something,” Dipzinski said. “If you aren’t feeling something by that poet, put it down and find another poem.”

Just like we all have different tastes in music, we are likely to have different tastes in poetry. Come listen or share Friday at the library.