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]

History

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]

Notable performers

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]

References

  1. 1 2 "Da Poetry Lounge: A Dinner Table of Artists". The Corsair. Retrieved 2018-08-18.
  2. ↑ "Poetry Flash > archive". poetryflash.org. Retrieved 2018-08-18.
  3. 1 2 Ignao, Lalaine. "Actor Dante Basco takes his 'Da Poetry Lounge' to the market". usa.inquirer.net. Retrieved 2018-08-18.
  4. ↑ Johnson, Javon (2010-10-01). "Manning Up: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Los Angeles' Slam and Spoken Word Poetry Communities". Text and Performance Quarterly. 30 (4): 396–419. doi:10.1080/10462937.2010.511252. ISSN 1046-2937. S2CID 192233974.
  5. ↑ "Writer Edwin Bodney Takes Aim at Gay Racism". www.advocate.com. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
  6. ↑ "The beats and emojis flow as spoken-word open-mics shelter on Instagram". Los Angeles Times. 2020-04-30. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
  7. ↑ "After COVID lockdowns, an essential L.A. community reemerges: the poets". Los Angeles Times. 2021-09-08. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
  8. ↑ Deng, Jireh (2023-01-23). "Tonya Ingram, an inspiring L.A. poet and 'lupus warrior,' died waiting for a kidney". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
  9. ↑ "Poet Yesika Salgado blew up on Instagram. Now her books are breaking literary boundaries". Los Angeles Times. 2019-04-09. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
  10. ↑ Tonya Ingram, Alyesha Wise and Ki NG - "Suicide" | All Def Poetry x Da Poetry Lounge, retrieved 2023-02-11
  11. ↑ Elizabeth Acevedo - "Bittersweet Love Poem" | All Def Poetry x Da Poetry Lounge | All Def Poetry, retrieved 2023-02-11
  12. ↑ Alyesha Wise - "To Black Women" | All Def Poetry x Da Poetry Lounge | All Def Poetry, retrieved 2023-02-11
  13. ↑ Tonya Ingram - "13" | All Def Poetry x Da Poetry Lounge | All Def Poetry, retrieved 2023-02-11
  14. ↑ Olivia Gatwood & Megan Falley - "When Princess Peach Speaks" | All Def Poetry x Da Poetry Lounge, retrieved 2023-02-11
  15. ↑ Rudy Francisco - "17" | All Def Poetry x Da Poetry Lounge | All Def Poetry, retrieved 2023-02-11
  16. ↑ Kevin Coval - "America" | All Def Poetry x Da Poetry Lounge | All Def Poetry, retrieved 2023-02-11
  17. ↑ Dante Basco - "Slowdancing" | All Def Poetry x Da Poetry Lounge | All Def Poetry, retrieved 2023-02-11
  18. ↑ Javon Johnson - "Black Joy" | All Def Poetry x Da Poetry Lounge | All Def Poetry, retrieved 2023-02-11
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