9th Annual Shakespeare's Birthday Sonnet Slam To Be Held April 26 In NYC

The 9th Annual Shakespeare's Birthday Sonnet Slam will be held Friday, April 26th from 1-4pm at the 9th floor Lounge at the Riverside Church in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. The Sonnet Slam features 154 readers of all ages and abilities performing all 154 of Shakespeare's Sonnets in numerical order. The event is free to the public and is approximately 3 hours long. People can sign up online to participate as a reader, for more information visit: http://www.sonnetslam.com

Past Sonnet Slams featured Broadway and film stars, notable writers, poets, fine art painters, teachers and readers from around the world and this year will also have a variety of readers from different professions and ages.

The 9th floor lounge at the interdenominational Riverside Church is a large, Neo-Gothic event space. The public can access the lounge at the 91 Claremont Avenue entrance, near West End Avenue and W. 122nd St.

Willful Pictures, Artistic Director, Melinda Hall created the Sonnet Slam for the people of New York to celebrate Shakespeare. "I wanted to create a unique opportunity for the Sonneteer and Shakespeare to be together, even if it's only for a minute."