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 on the second Monday of every month from 7 to 9:30 PM. Formerly held at 61 Local in Cobble Hill, the Yawp is currently being held virtually via Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

$10 for the workshop & open mic; $5 just for the open mic. The workshop starts at 7, open mic at 8.

Each reader for the open mic gets to read one poem of 3 minutes max. Poets can sign up in advance for one of twenty reserved spots. If those spots fill, we’ll put you on the wait list. One poem at every open mic is declared Yawp Poem of the Month by audience vote. The winning writer earns free admission to a future Yawp, a Brooklyn Poets tote bag and one of the twelve spots in our Yawp Poem of the Year contest at our awards gala in December. 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 below. 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.

Brooklyn Poets Code of Conduct

Brooklyn Poets will not tolerate any instances of discrimination, harassment or other form of abuse in conjunction with any of our programs. Respect and consideration for others, both within and outside our programs, are core values to be upheld by all participants. Discrimination against and/or harassment of community members on the basis of race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, national origin, religion, age, marital status, veteran status or any other factor is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Program participants are expected to adhere to all federal, state and local laws and regulations. Should a board or staff member, independent contractor, volunteer or program participant be found to violate any aspect of the organization’s code of conduct, Brooklyn Poets reserves the right to dismiss them from the program. Consequences may include, but not be limited to, dismissal from the current activity, suspension, ineligibility for all future activities, and/or loss of payment or fees. If you have any issues to report, please do not hesitate to contact Board President Isaac Myers III (myersiii@brooklynpoets.org), Executive Director Jason Koo (koo@brooklynpoets.org) or Development Manager renée kay (kay@brooklynpoets.org), and they will get back to you as soon as possible.