The first time Rashan Brown connected with poetry – when he felt it in his bones – was 2019. It was in Brooklyn, at his first open mic, and though the 29-year-old Bronx native had been writing verse since high school, when he performed his poem “I am BLACK,” on stage, it was electric.
“It felt like a release of energy,” he says. “Writing poetry feels amazing, but a different level of passion comes with performance.” That night, speaking words that affirmed his identity in front of cheering friends and loved ones, was powerful.
There was just one small problem with that event. Though it introduced him to a world previously unknown, he had to shell out cash to get there. “As a performer, I had to pay a $20 or so fee to perform,” he says. Not only that, the friends that he brought to fill the audience also had to pay to see the show.
It didn’t sit well that those providing the entertainment for the night were essentially funding someone else’s entire business. And besides the stage time — and that tingly feeling — he got little else out of it. “I didn’t get video content, or anything, really” he recalls.
Brown decided to create his own platform and resolved that it would be different. “I remember saying, I’m going to do a show, and it’s going to be free for poets. I’m going to give them video content, and I’m going to give them photography.”
Growing events by building community
The first poetry me, please performance showcase launched in June 2021. Today it’s the largest spoken word performance platform in New York, with a monthly audience upwards of 400. Each event — usually held at the downtown venue Sounds of Brazil (SOB’s) — offers a lineup of eight to twelve poets and a musical act, with seated dinner.
Sometimes there’s a theme: in honor of Women’s History Month, March’s “An Ode to Our Women” features an all-women lineup and content production team. The priority is on growing the spoken word poetry community as a whole.
For Brown, that growth begins by nurturing the artists. Performers sign up through a form on the website, and are chosen at random. A few weeks prior to the show Brown sets up a Zoom call with the lineup, later creating a group Instagram chat as a support system, where they can ask questions and swap tips. In the meeting he details everything performers can expect on the day of the showcase, from their point of contact to what to do if, say, the crowd gets rowdy.
He also gives advice on merchandising. “I give them a step-by-step of what I think they should do from a business standpoint and from an artist standpoint,” he says. “Things like, if you feel as if you’re stumbling, stop, and then start it over.”
Nurturing performer profiles
After the event performers are featured on poetry me, please’s vast social media. They’re also given professional performance shots and two performance videos per poem, materials they can utilize to strengthen their portfolio and find work. “A lot of poets are great writers and great performers, but they don’t have the resources to market themselves effectively,” says Brown.
Professional photos and videos mean a greater shot at getting bookings and they assist with social media reach, where the algorithm typically favors slick production. “We want to give them that professional content. And even more than that, they can now say ‘Hey, I’ve performed on this platform. Check them out.’”
The growth of the poetry me, please platform – now at 139K followers on Instagram, 32.5K subscribers on YouTube and 155.2K followers on TikTok — says volumes about the recent explosion of creative verbal expression. Poetry is having a moment, its audience becoming more diverse, and inclusive.
In 2023, a Grammy award for Spoken Word Poetry Album was introduced, acknowledging poetry’s importance in a category that previously encompassed all spoken word including audiobooks. A 2023 report by the National Endowment of the Arts found that 28 percent of readers under 30 read poetry regularly, up from 21 percent in 2020.
poetry me, please has sold out the 1,500 seat Apollo Theater—twice.
Turning first-time attendees into poetry lovers
Attendees of the showcases are between 24 and 32 years old and 57 percent have never attended a poetry show before. “They’re not poetry lovers,” says Brown. “They’ve heard about PMP, saw videos, or have a friend that’s performing.
They’re coming for the first time with no idea what to expect.” But they’re there to support and are usually lovers of art and performance and music. “They’re invested, they’re clapping, they’re snapping. The energy is always high in the room,” says Brown.
He attributes some of the crowd’s eclectic nature to Eventbrite. “When people look for things to do in the city they check the Eventbrite listings,” he explains. It’s something that really works for him and the audience he’s cultivating.
“We’re not looking for poetry lovers. What I’m really looking for are people who love events, they love the art, and they stumble upon us, and say ‘Okay, I didn’t know I needed this.’ I’m trying to find your casual event goers and convert them into poetry lovers.”
He’s been converting people all over the world: poetry me, please, has gone to Accra and London. But while more worldwide shows are on the wish list, his ultimate goal is right here at home. “I’m looking to do more large-scale events as we progress, with more touch points of poetry,” he says. “I want to see poetry me, please sell out Barclays. I want to sell out MSG with our community of poets.”
And then he’ll take it from the large scale, to the small screen. “I want to figure out how to get poetry back on digital platforms, like with Def Poetry Jam. Imagine seeing poetry me, please on Netflix?”
Poetry me, please – coming to a streamer near you.
Feeling inspired and want to discover more about poetry me, please? Follow them on their social channels (Instagram and TikTok) and check out their upcoming events here.
