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Poets House is a national poetry library and literary
center that invites poets and the public to step into the living tradition
of poetry. Our poetry resources and literary events document the wealth and
diversity of modern poetry, and stimulate public dialogue on issues of
poetry in culture.
Founded in 1985 by poet Stanley
Kunitz and arts administrator Elizabeth Kray, Poets House has created a
home for all who read and
write poetry. From 1990 to 2007 that home was located in an intimate loft
at 72 Spring Street in Soho. As rent increases began to make Soho an
impractical location, Poets House was fortunate to be designated by the
Battery Park City Authority as a rent-free tenant in a new building on the
banks of the Hudson River. In the summer of 2009, Poets House moved to its
permanent home at 10 River Terrace in Battery
Park City and opened to the public on September 25, 2009.
Throughout its transformations, the heart of Poets House
has remained its poetry collection. With over
50,000 volumes of poetry—including books, journals, chapbooks, audio
and video tapes, and digital media—our collection is among the most
comprehensive, open-access collections of poetry in the United States and
is the foundation for all our programs and services.
Each year we present over 200 public
programs, including panels, lectures, readings, writing workshops and
walking tours in New York City and nationwide. Panel discussions and
lectures link the voices of poets living today to a vast literary
tradition. Poets House readings presented in public parks and libraries
cultivate a wider audience for the art. Innovative seminars
and workshops taught by emerging and established poets offer
aficionados and first-timers an opportunity to explore the writing process
in greater depth.
Through the annual Poets House
Showcase, we gather and exhibit all of the years' new poetry books.
Thousands of books are shown each year from publishers large and small
across the country. The Showcase provides readers and writers an
opportunity to view the whole range of the art. All of the books are
documented in the Directory of American Poetry
Books, the most comprehensive bibliographic resource available for
poetry published since the 1990's.
Poetry in The Branches is a model for
developing poetry audiences in local communities by providing multi-layered
poetry services in public libraries. Poetry in The Branches makes this
model available nationwide through our Poetry in The Branches National Institute, on-site trainings and
consulting to diverse library systems, and full-service programs in local
branches. Branching Out: Poetry for the 21st
Century, a joint project with the Poetry Society of America, brought
PSA's Poetry In Motion™ program
and Poets House's Poetry in The Branches model to 7 cities nationwide.
At the turn of a new century, Poets House is working to
create a future where everyone has entree into the ageless, borderless
conversation that is poetry. We invite you to join us.
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