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 to 9:30 PM. $10 workshop & open mic / $5 open mic. Brooklyn Poets members 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 one poem—3 minutes max—on the mic. You can sign up in advance through the form on this page for one of fifteen reserved spots. If those spots fill, you can sign up in person at the start of the Yawp for one of five open spots or for the wait list. We usually get to 3–5 poets on the wait list every month.
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. Also note that by participating in the Yawp, you agree to the terms of our code of conduct. Brooklyn Poets reserves the right to dismiss from our programs any participant found to be in violation of this code. Thank you for respecting our community.