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Da Poetry Lounge is the largest weekly open mic performance space for poetry in the US. It is located in Los Angeles at the Greenway Court Theatre. [1]
Da Poetry Lounge was founded in 1998 as "Dante's Poetry Lounge" by poets Dante Basco, Ron "Shihan" VanClief, Devan "Poetri" Smith and "Brutha" Gimmel Hooper. Da Poetry Lounge was originally hosted in Basco’s living room for three years before expanding to the Greenway Court Theatre. [2] [3]
The DPL has a slam poetry team that performs in national poetry competitions. Performers have to show up to the Tuesday night readings early to sign up to perform. The artists then perform on a first-come-first-served basis. [1]
Da Poetry Lounge inspired “Def Poetry Jam” on HBO and on Broadway. [3]
In 2010, Javon Johnson published “Manning Up: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Los Angeles' Slam and Spoken Word Poetry Communities”, an essay addressing the prevalence of sexism at Da Poetry Lounge. [4]
In 2018, Da Poetry Lounge was hosted by Edwin Bodney. [5]
From March 2020 to November 2021, DPL held their events virtually in order to keep workers, performances, and audience members safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. [6] [7]
On December 30, 2022, Tonya Ingram, a poet who frequented Da Poetry Lounge and performed on DPL’s 2015 team at the National Poetry Slam, passed away from kidney failure. [8]
Da Poetry Lounge has featured performances from Yesika Salgado, [9] Walela Nehanda, [10] Elizabeth Acevedo, [11] Alyesha Wise, [12] Tonya Ingram, [13] Olivia Gatwood, [14] Rudy Francisco, [15] Kevin Coval, [16] Dante Basco, [17] and Javon Johnson. [18]
A poetry slam is a competitive art event in which poets perform spoken word poetry before a live audience and a panel of judges. While formats can vary, slams are often loud and lively, with audience participation, cheering and dramatic delivery. Hip-hop music and urban culture are strong influences, and backgrounds of participants tend to be diverse.
Marc Kelly Smith is an American poet and founder of the poetry slam movement, for which he received the nickname Slam Papi.
Dante R. Basco is an American film, television and voice actor. He is best known for his role as Rufio, the leader of the Lost Boys in Steven Spielberg's Hook and for voicing the titular character on American Dragon: Jake Long and Zuko on Avatar: The Last Airbender, Julian Lee in Fakin' da Funk, and for his many voice acting roles, most notably as Zuko's grandson: Iroh II, in The Legend of Korra, Shingo in EA's Skate, Fukushima in Kim Possible, Kwok Wong in the Proud Family, Jingmei in The Boondocks, Kenny Rodgers in Firebreather, Tuck in Generator Rex, Scorpion in Ultimate Spider-Man, Jai Kell in Star Wars Rebels, Cheddar in We Bare Bears, Javier in Victor and Valentino, and Spin Kick from Carmen Sandiego.
Roger Bonair-Agard is a poet and performance artist. He has made numerous television and radio appearances, has led countless workshops and lectures, and has performed his poetry at many US universities as well as at international festivals in Germany, Switzerland, Milan, and Jamaica. He has been accused of sexual abuse by multiple people, including other poets.
Beau Sia is an American slam poet.
Russell Simmons presents Def Poetry, better known as simply Def Poetry Jam or Def Poetry, is a spoken word poetry television series hosted by Mos Def and airing on HBO between 2002 and 2007. The series features performances by established and up-and-coming spoken word poets. Performances also include special appearances by well-known actors and musicians, as well as occasional performances by Mos Def himself. Co-created by Bruce George, Danny Simmons, Deborah Pointer, Stan Lathan, and Russell Simmons, the show is a spin-off of the popular Def Comedy Jam which began airing on HBO in the 1990s. As with Def Comedy, Simmons appears at the end of every episode to thank the audience.
Fakin' da Funk is a 1997 comedy film written and directed by Tim Chey. It stars Pam Grier, Ernie Hudson, Dante Basco, Tone Loc, Margaret Cho, and Tatyana Ali. The film is about two Asian-American youths trying to adjust to a new environment in South Central Los Angeles, with one being a Chinese boy who was adopted and raised by Black parents, and the other a foreign-exchange student.
George Virden Watsky, better known mononymously as Watsky, is an American rapper, singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, poet, author, and illustrator.
Chingona Fire is a Latina feminist poetry collective from Los Angeles, California. It was founded by the poets Angela Aguirre and Yesika Salgado in February 2016. Their goal is to create a safe space and visibility for women of color. They are helping women of color to have locations to perform on stage and to have their voices heard. Each month they host events where people can perform in front of audiences of approximately 80-100 listeners.
IN-Q or IN-Query, is the stage name of Adam Schmalholz, an American songwriter and National Poetry Slam champion from Los Angeles, California. Schmalholz describes his poetry as a reflection of his own experiences and life lessons. Recognized for his ability to bring poetry to pop culture, IN-Q helped establish one of the largest open mic poetry venues in the United States called "Da Poetry Lounge," held at the Greenway Court Theatre in Los Angeles.
Button Poetry is a Minneapolis-based poetry company and independent publisher of performance poetry. They are known for their viral videos of slam poetry performances, including a performance of "OCD" by Neil Hilborn that the Knight Foundation called "the most-viewed slam performance in history."
Yesika Salgado is an American poet. She is the author of three poetry books: Corazón, Tesoro, and Hermosa. She is also a co-founder of the poetry collective Chingona Fire.
Alyesha Wise, aka "Ms. Wise" is a poet, teaching artist and co-founder of Spoken Literature Art Movement (S.L.A.M). From Camden, N.J., Alyesha currently resides in Los Angeles where she also serves as a teaching artist for Street Poets, Inc. She previously served as the head coach of Da Poetry Lounge's slam team and a co-coach for the Get Lit Youth slam team. Wise co-founded and was a co-host of The Pigeon Presents: The Philadelphia Poetry Slam. She has been featured in a speaking engagement on the TEDx Talk series in which she dedicated the talk to her younger sister and Camden. While in Philadelphia, Wise was a co-host of Jus Words, the longest running weekly open mic in the city at the time. She also founded the organization Love, Us, a Philadelphia-based organization and annual production which worked to spread unity and self-love through the arts. The production was a large attraction in the Philadelphia poetry scene and a Twitter trending topic in 2010. She is currently the founder and organizer of Black Women Necessary, a safe space for black women. Wise also served as a former teaching artist and volunteer coordinator at New Earth, and continues to teach and mentor in Los Angeles youth detention centers. In 2017, she authored the book, Carnival. Ron Howard once said about Alyesha's performance style, "Very Powerful."
Imani Cezanne is an American activist and spoken word poet. She is the founding president of President of S.P.E.A.K..
Javon Johnson is an American spoken word poet, writer, and professor. He is the director of African American and African Diaspora Studies in the Department of Interdisciplinary, Gender, and Ethnic Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the author of Killing Poetry: Blackness and the Making of Slam and Spoken Word Communities.
Olivia Gatwood is a poet, writer, and educator on topics that include coming of age, feminism, gendered violence, & true crime.
Elizabeth Acevedo is a Dominican-American poet and author. In September 2022, the Poetry Foundation named her the year's Young People’s Poet Laureate.
Edwin Bodney is an American slam poet and author of the book A Study of Hands. He is one of the hosts of Da Poetry Lounge.
Tonya Ingram was an American poet, author, speaker, disability activist, and mental health advocate.
Walela Nehanda is a Black non-binary writer, cultural worker, cancer & stem cell transplant survivor, and mental health advocate from Los Angeles, California.