What's On
The Poetry Brothel Toronto is excited to announce a variety of incredible programming over the coming year, including free community events, open mic nights, and our immersive literary cabarets. Read on for our current offerings!
Announcing:
Our 2026 Cabaret Season Sponsorship Campaign
Want to learn more about what we're up to and what your supporting? Learn more and donate here.
Next Cabaret
The next Poetry Brothel Toronto Cabaret Theme is...
January 16th & 17th 2026
International Palace of Joy
Doors 7pm
Show 8pm
The Poetry Brothel Toronto is thrilled to invite you to dress as your favourite mythical creature or legendary character, to pull on your ancestral heritage or favourite stories, and to come play in our mythical and magical playground for Myths and Legends!
We are truly inspired by mythology from across the globe. Many folks are familiar with the mythical places and tales that hail from ancient Greece and Rome, or from Celtic or Norse mythology, but what about other places? Other beings? Other continents?
At the root of all myths are questions like,
"What does is mean to be human?"
"What is goodness and morality?"
How does the sun rise, the moon shift the tides, how did we come to be? Where do we go when we die? What beasts prowl beyond the edge of the spaces we know? Who rules the sea, the sky, the seasons, and want can we offer to appease them?
What is life for?
At the root of many legends are questions too, like...
What are we capable of when pushed to our limit? What makes a hero, and what makes a villain? What must we slay, or conquer, to step into the vastness of our power?
At the root of myths and legends is the network of everything we are and might be, plus the fun and play of humans gathering around the hearth to tell stories.
Join PBTO for our first ever two-night show, hosted by Madame Titania and the International Palace of Joy. Come one night, or both - for each night boasts a different lineup of poets and variety performers - and get mythical with us. It'll be legen.... wait for it.... dary.
Get tickets here.
The Poetry Club
Join the Poetry Brothel Toronto and HamsArt Market and Souk Cafe at our weekly Poetry Club.
Throughout the summer we gather weekly, but for the winter season we are reducing our schedule to meet just the
first Tuesday of every month from 7 PM - 8:30 PM we invite you to come out and write and share poetry, meet folks in our growing community, and partake of the delicious offerings at HamsArt.
“We walk through so many myths of each other and ourselves; we are so thankful when someone sees us for who we are and accepts us.”
― Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within
Our priorities are community and creativity. Come spend an evening with PBTO creating from a space of first inspiration, unbridled, unencumbered by the determination to write well or to write beautifully, and just write.
With rotating guest facilitators and thought leaders in Toronto's writing community, this is your chance to receive free education from some of Toronto's most generous and talented writers and teachers. Each session has its own unique theme and writing prompts to encourage you to get outside of your comfort zone, or find truth in places you don't usually look, to surprise yourself.
We believe that anyone can write poetry, and believe in the power of the practice of writing itself. Our poetry clubs have changing themes and facilitators, but the consistent format includes timed writing exercises. Having hosted numerous poetry clubs since spring of 2025, we have watched our community thrive under the permission that comes to write whatever comes to mind under the "pressure" of a timer. We love seeing participants surprise themselves with the power of a piece they have just written in under five minutes... If you think this can't be you, we're willing to bet you too will surprise yourself.
Sometimes all we need as artists is a community of like-minded, supportive, people, and a little bit of inspiration. Our Poetry Clubs are geared toward providing just that.
RSVP to get on our mailing list and help us to ensure enough seating for all.
