Poets House: A Place for Poetry


	January\| February \| March \| April \| May \| June \| July \| August \| September \| October \| November \| December \| Workshops \| Children's Events \| Exhibitions \| Showcase \| Poetry Walk Benefit


	All programs take place at Poets House, 10 River Terrace (at Murray St) in Lower Manhattan, unless otherwise noted. Poets House is wheelchair accessible; we welcome all poetry lovers to visit our library and attend programs.


		25^th Anniversary Programs To celebrate Poets House's 25^th anniversary, we invite you to a special series of 25 programs that trace 3,000 years of poetry — from Gilgamesh through early verse forms, the rise of lyric poetry and the advent of Modernism to the myriad poetic voices that are defining the 21^st century. This spring, our programming picks up with Shakespeare and takes you through the 20^st century.






	James Shapiro	25^th Anniversary Program Saturday, February 4, 2:00–4:00pm Passwords: James Shapiro on William Shakespeare Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro, author of Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare?, discusses the bard's poems, with a special focus on the late sonnets. $10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members


	Molly Peacock	25^th Anniversary Program Saturday, February 11, 2:00–4:00pm Passwords: Molly Peacock on John Donne and George Herbert Poet Molly Peacock explores the metaphysical tradition of the 17^th century with a lively examination of how English mystics John Donne and George Herbert blended the sacred and profane. $10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members


	Linda Gregerson	25^th Anniversary Program Saturday, February 18, 2:00–4:00pm Passwords: Linda Gregerson on Edmund Spenser and John Milton Poet and scholar Linda Gregerson discusses the role of temporality in the work of Elizabethan poet Edmund Spenser, author of The Fairie Queene, and 17^th century poet John Milton, author of Paradise Lost. $10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members


	Douglas Florian	A Florianthology: An Exhibition on the Art and Poetry of Douglas Florian Opening Reception: Sunday, February 26, 11:00am-2:00pm, with a Poetry Reading and Book Signing by Douglas Florian at 11:00am The unique collage-work, witty wordplay and educational rhymes of this award-winning children's book author have inspired and entertained countless children. This exhibit features original art work and poetry from the illustrator and author's career as well as insight into his artistic process. Featuring original artwork and poetry from his award-winning books Mammalabilia, Insectlopedia, Dinothesaurus, Poetrees and more. On view from February 28, 2012 through April 21, 2012, during regular library hours Admission Free




		\| return to top \|






		Friday, March 2, 1:30–2:45pm A Reading by Bei Dao with Forrest Gander, Eliot Weinberger & C.D Wright Poets House @ the 2012 AWP Conference in Chicago This bilingual reading and discussion features leading Chinese poet Bei Dao, his English–language translator Eliot Weinberger and American poets Forrest Gander and C.D. Wright. Admission free for registered Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference participants; for details, please visit the 2012 AWP Annual Conference website.


	Haruo Shirane	25^th Anniversary Program Saturday, March 10, 2:00–4:00pm Passwords: Haruo Shirane on Basho and Haiku Distinguished scholar Haruo Shirane, author of Traces of Dreams: Landscape, Cultural Memory, and the Poetry of Basho, discusses the poetry of Matsuo Basho, the master of the haiku form, and other Edo period poets. $10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members


	K. Silem Mohammad	25^th Anniversary Program Thursday, March 15, 7:00pm Passwords: K. Silem Mohammad on Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth Poet K. Silem Mohammad discusses Coleridge and Wordsworth's collaboration, Lyrical Ballads, in the context of each poet's development. $10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members


	Sketch of John Keats, study for Christ's Entry into Jerusalem by Benjamin Robert Haydon, c. 1816	25^th Anniversary Program Friday, March 16, 7:00pm Panel on John Keats with Michael Harper, Judith Harris, Stanley Plumly and Anne Wright Stanley Plumly, author of Posthumous Keats, is joined by poets Michael Harper, Judith Harris and Anne Wright for a discussion of the life and work of this beloved Romantic poet. $10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members


	Stained Glass portrait of Anne Bradstreet in St. Botolph's Church, Boston, Lincolnshire, England Phillis Wheatley Frances Ellen Watkins Harper	25^th Anniversary Program Saturday, March 17, 2:00pm Passwords: Gigi Bradford on Anne Bradstreet, Phillis Wheatley and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper Poet and nonprofit arts leader Gigi Bradford looks at the life and work of women poets of the New World. $10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members


	Quincy Troupe	Tuesday, March 20, 7:00PM Quincy Troupe on the Craft of Poetry Poet Quincy Troupe talks about poetic forms and approaches to craft as exemplified by American poetry along with a discussion of his own poetic innovations. $10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members


	Hans Faverey (1933–1990)	Wednesday, March 21, 7:00PM The Life and Work of Hans Faverey with Renee Gladman, Francis R. Jones, Eliot Weinberger and Jeffrey Yang This evening celebrates the life and work of Surinam–born Dutch poet Hans Faverey, described by J.M. Coetzee as "the purest poetic intelligence of his generation." Co–sponsored by Leon Works. $10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members


	Mark Doty	25^th Anniversary Program Saturday, March 24, 2:00–4:00pm Passwords: Mark Doty on Walt Whitman National Book Award winning poet Mark Doty leads a close reading of Whitman's poem "Song of Myself," as well as other works from Leaves of Grass. $10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members

		Annual Chapbook Festival Wednesday, March 28–Friday, March 30 Graduate Center, City University of New York 365 Fifth Avenue, New York NY This celebration of the chapbook presents readings, panel discussions, workshops and a book fair. Co–sponsored by; the MFA Programs in Creative Writing of the City University of New York; the Office of Academic Affairs and the Center for the Humanities at the Graduate Center, CUNY; the Center for Book Arts; the Poetry Society of America; and Poets & Writers. For information about events in the Annual Chapbook Festival, please visit chapfest.wordpress.com/.


	Eamon Grennan	25^th Anniversary Program Wednesday, March 28, 7:00pm Passwords: Eamon Grennan on W.B. Yeats Poet and scholar Eamon Grennan gives an overview and offers close readings of several poems by the great Irish modernist. $10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members


	Cole Swensen	25^th Anniversary Program Thursday, March 29, 7:00pm Passwords: Cole Swensen on 19^th Century French Poetry Poet and translator Cole Swensen discusses the Symbolist poets in late 19th century France, with close readings of poems by Stéphane Mallarmé and Charles Baudelaire alongside other poets of the time, including Paul Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud. $10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members




		\| return to top \|






	Ghassan Zaqtan Fady Joudah	Friday, April 13, 7:00pm Like a Straw Bird It Follows Me: Ghassan Zaqtan with Fady Joudah The author of many collections in Arabic, Palestinian poet Ghassan Zaqtan reads from and discusses his visceral, narrative poetics with fellow poet and translator Fady Joudah. Co–sponsored by The Harriet Monroe Poetry Institute. $10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members


		Saturday, April 14 Dutch Poets Today with Pieter Boskma, Hèléne Geléns, Erik Jan Harmens, Lucas Hirsch, John Schoorl and Joost Zwagerman 2:00pm Panel Discussion 4:00pm Reading A discussion and reading by a diverse group of younger Dutch poets representing a cross–section of new poetic practices and dynamic literary theory. $10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members


	Sèbastien Smirou	Thursday, April 19, 7:00pm Seeing About: Sèbastien Smirou with Andrew Zawacki French poet Sèbastien Smirou is joined by his English–language translator and fellow poet Andrew Zawacki for a reading from — and discussion of — My Lorenzo, a meditation on the 15^th–century Italian statesman, art patron and poet Lorenzo de Medici. $10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members


	Gertrude Stein	25^th Anniversary Program Saturday, April 21 Stanzas in Meditation: A Gertrude Stein Celebration 1:00pm Panel Discussion with Logan Esdale, Susannah Hollister, Liesl Olson and Emily Setina, moderated by Nancy Kuhl 3:00pm Reading with Paolo Javier, Rachel Levitsky, Joan Retallack, Christopher Schmidt, Laura Sims and Stacy Szymaszek Four emerging textual scholars share their recent work in the Gertrude Stein archives at Yale University; the collection's curator moderates. A reading of Stein's poetic work follows. $10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members


	C.K. Williams	25^th Anniversary Program Wednesday, April 25, 7:00pm Passwords: C.K. Williams on Robert Frost C.K. Williams speaks about the life and poetry of the venerated American poet Robert Frost, the rural patrician of New England literary life. $10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members

		Thursday, April 26, 2012 Poem in Your Pocket, Song in Your Heart Poem in Your Pocket Celebration: All Day Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra performance: 6:00pm World Financial Center and Winter Garden 200 Vesey Street, New York NY (212) 945—0505 Come to the Winter Garden at the World Financial Center on Poem in Your Pocket Day to receive a poem to read and carry with you throughout the day. Then join us for an evening of poetry and music about Lower Manhattan with the Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra and students from local schools P.S. 89 and I.S. 289 celebrating the culmination of a breakthrough neighborhood arts–education partnership funded by Goldman Sachs. Evening concert sponsored by Goldman Sachs in collaboration with Brookfield Properties.




		\| return to top \|






	Terese Svoboda	25^th Anniversary Program Tuesday, May 1, 7:00pm Passwords: Terese Svoboda on Kay Boyle, Lola Ridge, Hart Crane, Mina Loy and Marianne Moore Poet and novelist Terese Svoboda use the life of poet, political activist and editor Lola Ridge as a lens to examine the modernist poetry of her time. $10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members


	Susan Stewart	25^th Anniversary Program Thursday, May 3, 7:00pm Passwords: Susan Stewart on Wallace Stevens Poet and scholar Susan Stewart unpacks the dense lyric mastery of Wallace Stevens, revered for his elegant verse and explorations of imagination's supreme fictions. $10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members


	Herbert Leibowitz	25^th Anniversary Program Tuesday, May 8, 7:00pm Passwords: Herbert Leibowitz on William Carlos Williams Editor and critic Herbert Leibowitz, author of "Something Urgent I Have to Say to You": The Life and Work of William Carlos Williams, discusses the great doctor's oeuvre, from Spring and All to Paterson. $10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members


	Marjorie Welish	25^th Anniversary Program Thursday, May 10, 7:00pm Passwords: Marjorie Welish on The Imagists Poet, painter and critic Marjorie Welish discusses the work of the early 20^th–century Imagists, especially Ezra Pound and H.D. $10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members


	Ann Lauterbach	25^th Anniversary Program Saturday, May 12, 3:00-5:00pm Passwords: A Seminar with Ann Lauterbach on the Objectivists Poet Ann Lauterbach addresses the formal innovations of the 1930s Objectivist poets with a discussion of the lyrics from Basil Bunting and Lorine Niedecker to George Oppen and Louis Zukofsky. $10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members


	Cornelius Eady	25^th Anniversary Program Tuesday, May 15, 7:00pm Passwords: Cornelius Eady on the Harlem Renaissance Poet Cornelius Eady examines the diverse poetic output of Harlem Renaissance writers, from Langston Hughes to Countee Cullen. $10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members


		Founding Friendships: Treasures from the Collections of Elizabeth Kray and Stanley Kunitz On view from May 15, 2012 to October 6, 2012 Poets House co-founders, poet Stanley Kunitz and arts administrator Elizabeth Kray, wanted Poets House to be a place of friendship. This exhibition, comprising art works from Kunitz's collections and numerous manuscripts from Kray's, foregrounds their dedication to amity and hospitality. Highlights include paintings by Philip Guston, Robert Motherwell, Mark Rothko, Jack Tworkov, among many others, as well as letters by Galway Kinnell, Denise Levertov, Derek Walcott and James Wright. Admission Free

	Vijay Seshadri	25^th Anniversary Program Thursday, May 17, 7:00pm Passwords: Vijay Seshadri on W.H. Auden Poet Vijay Seshadri addresses the life and work of this British–born poet who became American and approached subjects from both antiquity and modernity with classic poetic forms. $10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members

	Rosamond King	25^th Anniversary Program Tuesday, May 22, 7:00pm Passwords: Rosamond King on Caribbean Poets of the 20^th Century Scholar and poet Rosamond King shares her insights into the groundbreaking output of 20^th–century Caribbean poets, including the works of Kamau Brathwaite and M. NourbeSe Philip. $10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members

	Martín Espada	25^th Anniversary Program Thursday, May 31, 7:00pm Passwords: Martín Espada on Puerto Rican Poetry Poet Martín Espada addresses the political poetic tradition of Puerto Rico, from Julia de Burgos to three major poets — Clemente Soto Vílez, Juan Antonio Corretjer and Francisco Matos Paoli — who were imprisoned for their "seditious" words and ideas. $10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members




		\| return to top \|






	Lee Ann Brown	25^th Anniversary Program Saturday, June 2, 3:00-5:00pm Passwords: Lee Ann Brown on Black Mountain Poets Poet Lee Ann Brown discusses the poetic movement that started at the experimental Black Mountain College in the 1950s and 1960s, including a focus on Charles Olson and Robert Duncan, as well as their collaborators. $10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members

	Saskia Hamilton	25^th Anniversary Program Tuesday, June 5, 7:00pm Passwords: Saskia Hamilton on John Berryman, Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell Poet and editor Saskia Hamilton looks at three post–war American poets, examining their formal innovation and selective use of the confessional, as well as their complex mutual friendships. $10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members

	Carol Muske–Dukes	25^th Anniversary Program Friday, June 8, 7:00pm Passwords: Carol Muske–Dukes on the Beats Poet and novelist Carol Muske–Dukes offers insights on the Beat poets, with a discussion of the work of Diane di Prima, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Gary Snyder and Philip Whalen. $10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members

	Galway Kinnell reading "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry," Poetry Walk 2011	Monday, June 11, 6:30pm The 17^th Annual Poetry Walk Across the Brooklyn Bridge A Benefit for Poets House with Galway Kinnell and Others Our annual Bridgewalk is an "only in New York" experience — a poetic pilgrimage featuring New York–themed readings by poetry greats beneath architect George Washington Robeling's famous arches, a sundown rendition of Walt Whitman's "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" by Galway Kinnell and a festive dinner at Bubby's Brooklyn. This year, esteemed teacher and Pulitzer Prize winner Kinnell will be honored for his service to poetry with our Elizabeth Kray Award. Tickets begin at $250 ($225 for members). Reservations are required. Call (212) 431 – 7920 x2830 or e–mail Krista Manrique krista@poetshouse.org. All proceeds benefit Poets House.