Touted as the “best poetry event in the borough” by Brooklyn Magazine and “one of the most innovative literary events in the city” by Time Out New York, the Brooklyn Poets Yawp is a monthly poetry workshop & open mic held at 61 Local in Cobble Hill (61 Bergen St) on the second Monday of every month from 7–9:30 PM. $5 admission. Members and current Brooklyn Poets students get in free.
The workshop starts at 7, open mic at 8. Never written a poem before or needing a kick in the pants to start writing again? Come at 7 and take the workshop. Already writing and itching to test your work on a live audience? Skip the workshop and come at 8 for the open mic.
Each poet gets 3 minutes max on the mic. Your place in the open mic lineup is determined by the order in which you sign up. If the lineup fills before you put your name down, we’ll put you on the wait list, and if somebody doesn’t show or leaves extra time, you’ll be next in line.
One poem at every open mic is declared Poem of the Month by audience vote. The winning writer receives free admission to a future Yawp and earns one of twelve spots in our Poem of the Year Smackdown at the final Yawp of the year. We record and publish a monthly Yawpcast, so note that by reading you’re giving us permission to distribute your recording, unless you notify us otherwise.