Mike Puican : part two

How did you first engage with poetry?

I didn’t start writing poetry until I was an adult. I had been married for six years and was in the middle of a rough divorce and custody battle. I felt lost and alone. One night, walking down a street in Chicago, I stopped into a bar featuring a poetry reading. I had no idea anything like this went on and I was captivated. I began going to every open mic and reading I could find. After a while, I started writing poems and reading them in open mics. I met other writers and they became an important community for me. This led to my involvement in poetry slams and competition at the National Poetry Slam. Over time, my interests have moved to poetry that is more for the page than the stage. Despite that, I’ll always have a strong connection to the performance poetry scene.