Brooklyn Poets Yawp

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 Friday of every month from 6:30 to 9 PM. The event is hosted at 144 Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights and also livestreamed via Zoom (closed captions available). 

6:00 PM: doors open & open mic sign-up begins

6:30–7:30 PM: generative writing workshop

7:45 –9 PM: open mic

Each reader for the open mic can read one poem of 3 minutes max. Participants can purchase one of ten tickets in advance to reserve an open mic spot, and a few of these are reserved for readers that have not read at a Yawp open mic before. Once those tickets sell out, all other participants who'd like to read for the open mic can purchase a General Admission ticket and sign up at the door on a first-come, first-serve basis. We usually have time for about 20–22 readers.

One poem at every open mic is declared Yawp Poem of the Month by audience vote. The winning writer earns a Brooklyn Poets tote bag and one of the twelve spots in our Yawp Poem of the Year contest. Also note that by participating in the Yawp, you agree to abide by our code of conduct and COVID-19 policy. All in-person attendees for events are currently required to wear masks (regardless of vaccination status) except readers at a safe distance on stage. We will have masks available. Our full policy can be found at the end of the event description. Brooklyn Poets reserves the right to dismiss from our programs any participant found to be in violation of these policies. Thank you for respecting our community.

Guests can purchase tickets to attend in person at 144 Montague Street or virtually via Zoom (note: virtual guests cannot read for the open mic). Advance online ticket sales for in-person attendance end at 5 PM on the day of the event. After that, tickets for in-person attendance can be purchased at the door until we reach capacity; tickets for virtual attendance will be available until the start of the workshop at 6:30 PM. A Zoom link will be emailed to all ticket holders before the event. Participants are encouraged to purchase tickets in advance for in-person attendance, as the event regularly sells out. Brooklyn Poets members take $5 off.

Workshop Leader

TBA

By attending this event, you agree to abide by our policies below. Thank you for respecting (and being part of) our community!

Our Policies: Community Agreements, Mask Policy, and Accessibility

Community Agreements

At Brooklyn Poets, we are committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive, welcoming and nurturing environment, which allows for mental, emotional and physical well-being, free from intentional harm. We value personal accountability, responsibility and respect for those participating.

We understand that each of us will misstep because we are continuously learning, and we lead with the assumption that others are doing the best they can with the knowledge and experiences they have. We also believe that each of us, individually and collectively, has a responsibility to acknowledge and address behaviors that harm others. We do not tolerate discrimination, harassment or harm based on factors of identity. If harm occurs, we will intervene using a harm-reductionist, transformative justice framework.

To ensure that we are creating and maintaining a space that aligns with our values, we ask that all participants, staff, faculty, board members, collaborators and community members challenge themselves to meet the following principles:

Center community
Show up with an active commitment to move outside of the systems and norms that perpetuate harm, particularly the intersecting systems of oppression and marginalization that cause the most harm to the most vulnerable amongst us. Challenge yourself to listen without defensiveness when others in the community tell you that your actions have caused harm. Create space for learning and repair while giving yourself compassion when your impact does not align with your intent.

Engage with intention
You’ve chosen to be here for a reason, so while you’re here: Listen fully when others are speaking. Speak authentically. Be aware of the space you take up and ensure you’re creating space for others. Make the most of what we can offer each other.

Embrace uncertainty and (principled) discomfort
Remain open to new ideas, methods or approaches, even if they don’t align with your expectations or preferences. Recognize that the work needed to move through tensions, disagreements, complexities and harms in ways that honor a shared commitment to growth often require us to spend time feeling uncertain and uncomfortable.

Respect, affirm and uplift one another
Respect others' perspectives and identities shared with you—including race, cultural background, gender expression and pronouns, sexual orientation, religion, class identity and ability. Don’t make assumptions about anyone’s identity, background or experiences.

Respect your own well-being
Prioritize your own physical, mental and emotional well-being—stretch, eat, drink water, go off camera, take a breath, use the restroom or step outside when needed. Reach out to your instructor, classmates or Brooklyn Poets staff when you need help or support in doing so. If you need accommodations to help you do so, reach out to bkp@brooklynpoets.org.

These principles reflect our collective commitment to creating an environment that acknowledges, supports and values all community members. Individual workshops and other spaces may create additional agreements for collective engagement. If you have an experience to share or a need for mediation, please email feedback@brooklynpoets.org, which will send your message to everyone noted below and is the fastest path to reach us. If you’re more comfortable contacting someone individually, or your experience relates to one of the individuals listed, you can contact anyone listed individually and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Executive Director r kay: kay@brooklynpoets.org
Board President Eugenia Leigh: eugenia.leigh@gmail.com
Board Co-Vice-President Miller Oberman: miller.oberman@gmail.com

Brooklyn Poets reserves the right to dismiss anyone from our programs (without refund) for actions deemed detrimental to staff, faculty, and/or other participants. This includes but is not limited to making unwanted sexual comments and/or advancements; using misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, and/or racially insensitive language; and aggressive or belligerent behavior.

These community agreements are heavily indebted to our own Transformative Justice work with Community Jewelbox and the following organizations we looked to for inspiration in terms of structure: Cave Canem & Tin House.

Mask Policy

All event attendees are required to wear masks due to the current prevalence of cases of COVID and other respiratory illnesses in NYC. Masks will be available at the door.

While your personal risk tolerance may vary, the unmitigated spread of COVID and other respiratory illnesses disproportionately affects the most vulnerable in our community—including those who are immunocompromised or don’t have the privilege of paid sick days to heal and recover. We hope you’ll join us in taking the actions we can to make our space welcoming to all and to keep each other safe. Please stay home if you are experiencing symptoms, have a positive COVID test or someone close to you has recently tested positive.

We strongly encourage daytime visitors and workshop attendees to wear masks. Workshop instructors may choose to enforce a more stringent policy at their own discretion. Additionally, workshop participants may be required to wear masks as an accessibility accommodation for other participants.

While we do our best, Brooklyn Poets cannot guarantee zero risk. A risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in all public settings. By entering the building, students, teachers and other attendees accept the risk of exposure and knowingly waive and release Brooklyn Poets from any liability related to COVID-19.

Accessibility

Our space at 144 Montague requires the ability to go up a single flight of stairs. Due to the landmark status of the Brooklyn Heights Historic District, fire code restrictions and our position as renters, we are unfortunately unable to make structural changes to the building at this time that would eliminate this barrier, though we have explored every possible option.

While 144 Montague is the latest addition to what we do at Brooklyn Poets, much of our core programming remains virtual only, including our Mentorship Program, Craft Labs, Staff Picks Reading Series and The Bridge. In addition, the majority of our workshops are conducted online. For those who cannot join us in our physical space, all of our event programming is accessible via livestream and includes closed captioning. All swag available for sale in our space is also available in our online store. We prioritize historically underserved and marginalized groups when awarding fellowships and selecting writers to teach for us and feature at our events or for our Poet of the Week series. We remain committed to growing our robust online offerings to increase access to poetry for all.

We strive to continue making Brooklyn Poets a more accessible space, and we’re always open to hearing about how we could do better. If you have any questions or suggestions, contact us at bkp@brooklynpoets.org or by going to our Contact page.