It allows creativity to be possible. It creates a space for openness. There’s a lot of young poets that walk up to the mic, that are sharing pieces that they feel very vulnerable about. It’s a very sacred thing that not every single space can do.”

- Amped Youth & Fresh Heat Host

In 2026, Humanities Amped is proudly celebrating and continuing the enduring legacy of Fresh Heat: Teen Open Mic. For twenty years, Fresh Heat has served as both a creative home and cultural institution where young people can write, perform, publish, and develop as artists within a supportive community of peers and mentors. Fresh Heat is the longest running youth open mic series in Baton Rouge, and remains one of the only community spaces that center youth voice.

The Fresh Heat Network, which has grown to include the open mic series as well as the newly established Fresh Heat: Teen Zine, remains a vital source of life, connection, and self expression for youth writers and artists in Baton Rouge. As one Fresh Heat youth host shared, “It’s just a breath of fresh air to see people talk about real things, and in a way that really shows the significance of it.” In the words of another Fresh Heat youth host, “it’s hard to get somebody to show you they true colors in this world, especially Baton Rouge.” She identifies Fresh Heat, however, as a solution to this challenge, calling it “good venue for [self-expression], especially since we have a place where we’re gonna make it safe enough for them to be able to show that to us.”

Humanities Amped celebrated twenty years of Fresh Heat with two in-school open mics at Tara High School in the fall, three open mics at Mid City Ballroom in the spring, and one presentation at the Journeying to Justice Conference. These community-wide Fresh Heat Open Mics were hosted by current Amped youth, were attended by 50+ youth and community members, and featured guest artists from throughout Fresh Heat’s long history. The experience of Fresh Heat is transformative: in the words of one Amped student, “Going there the first time, I sure wasn’t up there. But I saw people do it, and it’s not a bad experience, it’s not a judgmental space.” Another student echoed the challenge of speaking on the mic for the first time, articulating that pushing through the nerves “builds confidence, it builds a lot of character as well.” Many young people read their work publicly for the first time on the mic this year, finding support, love, and encouragement in exchange for their courageous vulnerability.

Humanities Amped also had the honor of publishing the work of 36 youth poets, writers, and artists across the first two editions of the Fresh Heat: Teen Zine. As Co-Editors Kalivyn Marquix and Emma Gist wrote in the introduction to the first edition, the Fresh Heat: Teen Zine “preserves the creative and critical thought of young people in Baton Rouge today. It is also a liferaft to carry us between the fleeting occasions once a month where our intergenerational community can gather to listen, to witness, to experience the power of youth poetry and performance.”

WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE FRESH HEAT NETWORK

The future of Fresh Heat is one that is led by the young people who are shaping it now. Next year, Humanities Amped looks forward to even more youth leadership as we expand the reach of the Fresh Heat Network with our partners at Youth City Lab. As one young poet explained, “a real big problem in our current society and especially in this community of BR is our lack of community. We don’t have no networking, we don’t unite.” Another young poet added, “I feel like Fresh Heat will build that unity. By bringing a lot of creative souls together to express themselves, it will help us come together more.”

HELP US GROW THE FRESH HEAT NETWORK!

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To receive your own copy of the Fresh Heat: Teen Zine fall or spring edition, make a donation today of $30 or more, or $50 or more for both. We'll mail your copy to the address you provide.

Learn more about our work at humanitiesamped.org, and keep up to date with the Fresh Heat Network at humanitiesamped.org/fresh-heat!