Thursday night might have been the night of “Bad Love,” but the atmosphere in the room was far from angry.

Trent Writers Society (TWS) held their first open mic poetry night on Thursday Feb. 25 in Sadleir House’s dining hall.

The theme was Bad Love, complete with twinkling indoor lights and pink cutouts of hearts. This was the first open mic event TWS has held this school year, and judging from the jovial turn out it won’t be the last.

The night provided an outlet for anyone who was willing to get up in front of an audience and rage about their exes, whether they were experienced poets or not.

And in many cases, this meant performers bringing to the mic content that would otherwise never be seen, locked away in the depths of angsty teenage eighth grade journals.

This brought a whole new meaning to “bad” poetry, as people took to the stage to recount every emotion their tween-age selves were feeling about love, or lack thereof.

There was humour, there was sadness and there was angst.

TWS Co-President Kelsey Levins performed a truly “bad” love poem comparing a lover’s eyes to the colour of the blue liquid they pour on pads.

Social media manager Nikkole Foley read a short little poem about her love for Marvel villain, Loki, prompting some laughs.

And actual poet and TWS member Rushelle Tonice schooled the room with a beautifully written piece, signalling that while the theme may have been “bad love,” there are no restrictions to the kind of content TWS loves to have at events.

This group is open to anything, and we’re always down for fun.

Multiple people who got up in front of the mic had never performed their own work to others before, and those are exactly the kind of opportunities TWS wants to give.

With this year’s anthology, Iridescent, being published at the end of this semester, as well as the addition of the midyear magazine and open mic nights, TWS aims to give Trent students outlets to publish and perform their writing.

The club provides a safe and comfortable space for writers to share their pieces, whether it’s a 15-minute prompt jotted down in one of our meetings, or an embarrassingly bad love poem written by your 13-year-old self that you kept stowed away in a journal for eight years (and let’s face it— it was for a good reason).

Keep an eye out for updates on the Trent Writers release and launch party for Iridescent, this year’s anthology.

TWS meets weekly on Wednesdays at 7p.m. in Gzowski College, room 111— we welcome anyone and everyone!