Next Up to The Mic: Celeste and R.M. Engelhardt at Mojo’s Cafe

This week, Thom Francis welcomes local poets Celeste and R.M. Engelhardt to the mic. They performed their poetry at the “Year in Review” event at Mojo’s Cafe & Gallery in downtown Troy on Saturday, December 6, 2025. +++++ It’s a new year and the Hudson Valley Writers Guild has a lot of exciting opportunities for poets and writers to share their words at readings, workshops, and other events. We can’t wait to find out what our region is writing about in 2026. 2025 was an incredible year of dynamic poetry and prose from our very vibrant, creative community. To start off 2026, we are going to go back to the last event of 2025 and hear from two poets who took part in the annual “Year in Review” open mic, hosted by the great Mary Panza, at Mojo’s Cafe in Troy on Saturday, December 6, 2025. First up is Celeste, a young, new voice to the area who reads some reworked poems for the afternoon event in the Collar City. And then, long-time Albany poet and open mic host R.M. Engelhardt, takes the stage to share two poems - one calm, the other one, as he says, “different.”