The Poetry Brothel is an immersive literary cabaret that fuses poetry, vaudeville, burlesque & magick with 1-on-1 private poetry readings.

UPDATE: This event is SOLD OUT. Thank you to all!

Bring your haunting costumes and occult magic energies to our Poetry Brothel: COVEN show on October 29th at DROM. The Poetry Brothel is a unique and interactive poet-theatrical event that is here to haunt your psyche, channel your fears into fables, and give you an unforgettable Halloween experience.

Here, the Madame presents a rotating cast of poets, each operating within a carefully crafted character, who impart their work in public readings, spontaneous eruptions of poetry, and most distinctly, as purveyors of private poetry readings in intimately curated private rooms. Come enjoy a literary cabaret featuring burlesque, live music, vaudeville, aerials, visual art, magic, and mysticism.

The Poetry Brothel opens it doors at 7pm for intimate, private poetry readings, as well as tarot and typewriter poetry. The mainstage show begins at 8pm with public performances taking place between 8pm and 11pm, with two intermissions. Private readings will be held all night during the show, but we encourage you to come early to get some special attention <3 (especially our VIP ticketholders who will receive two complimentary tokens) Trust us, after getting a reading, you're going to want to buy more. DROM also has table drink and food service for VIP members!

Additionally, New York City photographer Seymour Licht will launching his new book, Halloween Underground, and selling and signing the copies! The first photography book to document costumed Halloween passengers in the New York City Subway, Halloween Underground is the culmination of photographer Seymour Licht’s twenty-year long quest to capture the clash between the riotous creativity of the holiday and the gritty banality of the New York subway.

This event will feature the incredible hosts Dandy and Blacknificent, music from Hot Club of Flatbush and Avi Steinhardt, burlesque from Cheyenne Sapphire, aerial performance from Marz, tarot from Circe Delacroix and Marisol Vibracion, and poetry from the incredible cast, including Minerva Mae, Velvet Envy, Lady Dream Away, Sabina Crowley, January Blue, Scarlett Hemlock, Mr. Words, Dolce, she she cummings, Persephone James, Mona Mayhem, and Holy Holly, with Jill, 25 doing typewriter poems!

The Poetry Brothel is brought to you by The Poetry Society of New York, who is hosting an incredible Masquerade Ball on Saturday, October 28th. You can purchase a discounted dual-entry ticket for both events here! Please also consider making a donation to GLITS, our partner in this event. GLITS is an organization that fights for the health, rights, and safety of transgender sex workers. The Poetry Brothel will be donating $1 for every token sale to GLITS, and we encourage our audience to match this, or donate more!

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