Home Box Office is bringing back its late-night poetry show for a second
season.
The premium network will air seven new half-hour editions of Russell
Simmons Presents Def Poetry this season.
The program -- which launched last December with four installments --
presents seasoned, celebrity and up-and-coming poets performing their work
onstage in front of live audiences.
The upcoming season will be taped Feb. 20 through 22 at New York's Supper
Club.
The series will again be hosted by rapper and actor Mos Def (Black on Both
Sides and Monster's Ball).
The brainchild of Def Jam Records impresario Simmons -- who
executive-produced long-running HBO skein Russell Simmons' Def Comedy Jam
-- the poetry series' first season showcased the talents and works of Amiri
Baraka, Black Ice, Benjamin Bratt, Cedric the Entertainer, Dave Chappelle, Nikki
Giovanni, Suheir Hammad, Jewel and The Last Poets, among
others.
