Stone Soup is one of New England’s oldest poetry gatherings — founded by Boston poet Jack Powers more than fifty years ago, with roots reaching back to the Beats — and its Monday-night home is Out of the Blue Art Gallery on Massachusetts Avenue in Central Square. The scrappy, art-crammed, artist-run space suits the series’ come-as-you-are spirit perfectly.

The format is a Stone Soup constant: a featured poet reads, then the open mic list takes over, welcoming every style from formal verse to full-throated spoken word. Sign-up happens before the reading starts, and first-timers get the same warm reception as regulars who have been coming for decades. It suits anyone poetry-curious — you can read, or just listen from a folding chair with the Central Square art scene humming around you.