John G. Rives is a performance poet, storyteller, and author. He has appeared on multiple seasons of HBO's Def Poetry Jam[1] and was a member of the Def Poetry international tour group. He has made multiple appearances at the TED Conference[2] and has published several pop-up books for children. He co-hosted the television special 'Ironic Iconic America' with Tommy Hilfiger, discussing how pop culture has influenced American tastes and styles.[3] While English is his native language, he is also fluent in American Sign Language, Latin, Ancient Greek and speaks conversational French.
Some of his most well-known performances on Def Poetry Jam include a story about poetry in the deaf community,[4] a description of his post-coital bliss[5] and the performance "Dirty Talk" about what people say during sex.[6]