The Poetry Brothel's "Madame" or "Monsieur" presents a rotating cast of poets as "whores," each operating within a carefully constructed character, who impart their work in public readings, spontaneous eruptions of poetry, and most distinctly, as purveyors of private, one-on-one poetry readings in back rooms. For a small fee, (please foresee some cash!) all of the "poetry whores" and some performer are available for these sequestered readings at any time during the event. Of course, any true brothel needs a good cover; The Poetry Brothel's is an immersive cabaret, offering a full bar, live music, burlesque dancers, painters, and fortune-tellers, with newly integrated themes, performances and installations at each event.

Poets performing at the Brothel are male and female and everything in between, emerging and established, local and international, and they engage audiences in an immersive experience that flows seamlessly through the Brothel's public spaces into its private poetry readings. Central to this experience is the creation of character, which for poet and audience function as disguise and as freeing device, enabling The Poetry Brothel to be a place of uninhibited creative expression in which the poets and audience can be themselves in private. Through the vehicle of the private reading, The Poetry Brothel offers access to a part of the artistic process that was previously restricted to individuals in already intimate relationships.