Jorge Mendez

Jorge Mendez is an author, musician and spoken word artist based out of Hampton Roads, VA. He has been the standing host of the weekly “Monday Night Open Mic” at The Venue on 35th in Norfolk, VA since 2012. He currently serves as Vice President of the Poetry Society of Virginia (Southeastern Region) and works in various areas of the arts community in Hampton Roads. In 2015, he created Poet Fest 757, an all-day poetry festival held annually during National Poetry Month.

In March of 2016, Jorge alongside Terrell K. Mercer went live with “The Chocolate Milk and Waffles Show”, an internet talk radio show specializing in highlighting local artists in and around The Hampton Roads area on Radio Free Radio.

Jorge started writing poetry as a child, later putting the skill he gained as a page writer into Hip-Hop format releasing 3 independent albums with long time producer and partner John "Smiles" Dennis on an independent recording label they founded called UKNODACREW Productions in 2002. He has since graduated to Spoken Word and has been performing his poetry quickly earning himself Feature Performances at events like Last Tuesdays, Arts Out Loud, Mic Fiend and Verse and Vibes.

In March of 2016 Jorge published a book of his works titled "Keys & Crowbars" released on San Francisco Bay Press, followed by Candy and Rigor Mortis Vol. 1 and 2 which he co-authored with JT Williams.

Jorge Mendez has become a well-respected staple of the Hampton Roads Performance Poetry community as well as a mentor for many new artists.