Poets House Inc

Description

Poets House is a comfortable, accessible place for poetry–a 50,000-volume poetry library and a meeting place that invites poets and the public to step into the living tradition of poetry. In addition to books, the collection includes extensive audio, chapbook, and journal holdings. Poets House is free to use and open to the public Tuesday – Friday, 11am-7pm and Saturday 11am-6pm. Founded in 1985 by the late Stanley Kunitz and the late Elizabeth Kray, Poets House serves a national constituency of writers and readers, and presents programs that cultivate a wider audience for the art. Each year Poets House presents more than one hundred programs, including lectures, panels, workshops, and master classes. Our signature PASSWORDS series features celebrated contemporary poets presenting lectures on the work of their poetic predecessors. Poets House programs strive to illuminate connections between readers and writers of diverse aesthetics, and between contemporary poetry and the traditions that nurture it. Our programming goals are to widen public discussion about the art of poetry and to encourage audiences to continue exploring the art through our 50,000-volume poetry collection. Our annual POETS HOUSE SHOWCASE gathers the entire harvest of the previous year’s new poetry books–from university, commercial and independent presses–for a comprehensive exhibit in our space. Featuring the work of poets from every aesthetic, the Showcase facilitates greater public access to over 2,000 poetry books produced in America annually. The Showcase is an unprecedented annual forum that illuminates the roles of all partners who bring poetry to the public. Poets House is also engaged in an award-winning initiative whose goal is to make poetry more available through our nation’s libraries. POETRY IN THE BRANCHES is a project designed to broaden audiences for poetry in public libraries nationwide, through collection development and display, programming, after-school writing workshops for young people and librarian training. Through this project, Poets House has worked with staff from the New York Public Library and the Brooklyn Public Library systems to create a national model for poetry services in community libraries. Each fall, Poets House holds a Poetry in the Branches National Institute for librarians from across the country–a comprehensive crash-course in building and expanding poetry collections, displays and programming in their home branches. This training and other poetry program related services are also brought, on a consulting basis, to the staff of libraries and other organizations. The Constance Laibe Hays Children’s Room at Poets House is a whimsical, inspiring place for young readers and writers. The Children’s Room features a growing collection of poetry books for kids, and Saturday programs featuring hands-on poetry and art projects facilitated by celebrated poets, teachers and illustrators. The Cheney Chappell Exhibit Space at Poets House features displays which examine the intersections between the written and visual arts. Information on current and future events and exhibits as well as other services may be found on the Poets House website, www.poetshouse.org.