Da Poetry Lounge, (often referred to as "DPL" or "the Lounge") is a Los Angeles-based poetry venue that has been operating officially since 1998, but our story really begins in 1997 as "Dante's Poetry Lounge", inside of one of our founders, Dante Basco's living room. What started as a weekly gathering with a few friends in his Hollywood home to practice spoken word, became the spot to be if you knew where to be. More friends started coming, and then they told a friend, and then that friend told a friend, in what became an event too large to stay in a living room.

So in 1998, Dante brought onboard Shihan Van Clief, DJ Brutha Gimel, and Poetri Smith, who together became the founders of what was since, nationally known as Da Poetry Lounge. Each of the founders played a role. Poetri and Shihan were the weekly hosts with DJ Brutha Gimel there to set the night’s vibe, by spinning records in between poets.  

Over the coming years, DPL would take residence in several venues across LA before making a home at the Greenway Court Theatre in 2000.

Two decades later, on every Tuesday, over 200 people from around the globe attend what has become the nation's largest weekly open mic.

Scroll down below for a trip down memory lane.