The second-floor room was not only packed, it was also stuffy despite the droning efforts of a small I-think-I-can-I-think-I-can window air-conditioner. Knowing anything can happen at a public open-mic event—dreadful poems about cats or pizza, 5,000 words delivered in a monotone—I considered the exit. Beside me, a writer pal rested her hand on my thigh. […]