Join us for the third annual Brooklyn Poets Awards Gala on Sunday, December 11, 5–8 PM (ET) at 144 Montague Street. Enjoy drinks, small plates, and desserts, plus poetry readings by Denise Bell Award Winner Gbenga Adesina, Robin Romeo Award Winner Stella Lee, our Yawp Poem of the Year Winner (to be announced after the Yawp Poem of the Year Contest) and Gala Honoree Tina Chang.
All donations will contribute to Brooklyn Poets’ end-of-year fundraising campaign to establish a preliminary budget for operations at 144 Montague, programs and fellowships in 2023. All in-person attendees are required to wear masks and show proof of Covid-19 vaccination to enter. Donations to attend the gala must be received by December 11 at noon (ET).
About the Awards
The Denise Bell Award is a new annual award that honors the memory of poet Denise Bell, a former Brooklyn Poets Fellow and proud resident of Fort Greene/Clinton Hill for over twenty years, who passed away last year. The award is given to the poet with the year’s best Poet of the Week feature including a previously unpublished poem, as judged by Brooklyn Poets staff.
The Robin Romeo Award is an annual award given to an outstanding poet in our community who’s a loving supporter of other poets. Formerly the Yawper of the Year Award, the award was renamed in memory of poet and beloved Yawper Robin Romeo in 2021.
The Yawp Poem of the Year Award is awarded by audience vote to one of twelve Yawp Poem of the Month winners who compete in the Poem of the Year contest in December.
Our Gala Honoree is a poet with a distinguished body of work and record of service to the literary community, who embodies the values that we believe define Brooklyn at its best, among them openness, inclusiveness and creative spirit.