The Poetry Project Announces 50th Anniversary and New Initiatives

By: Nov. 21, 2016
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The Poetry Project, the legendary downtown mecca for working poets and experimental artists since the days of Ginsberg and Ferlinghetti, will celebrate its 50th anniversary with two landmark events.

On January 1, 2017, The Poetry Project's signature event, the New Year's Day Marathon Reading, will feature poets and other artists from throughout its storied history alongside new and emerging poets.

On April 27, The Poetry Project will host its first-ever gala, honoring renowned poet and former Artistic Director Anne Waldman. Among Waldman's many honors are a Guggenheim Fellowship and a National Book Award for lifetime achievement.

The New Year's Day Marathon kicks off a $350,000 fundraising campaign that will allow The Poetry Project to expand its reach by live-streaming events and sharing its programs on the web.

"From the beginning, The Poetry Project has been the premier venue for poets in New York-a vital hub of fresh, innovative work," said Executive Director Stacy Szymaszek. "Now we want to take the Project global and create a virtual community of poets and audiences who share our passion for bold new work."

The 2016-17 season includes a special series of seven events, Giant Night: The Poetry Project at 50. Paying homage to Waldman, whose first book was titled Giant Night, the series encourages participants to delve into the organization's history and future.

Founded in 1966 as a successor to the Beat coffeehouse scene of the 1950s and '60s, The Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery has been at the beating heart of New York's downtown experimental scene for five decades. In its weekly reading and performance series, the Project has hosted seminal poets like Allen Ginsberg, John Ashbery, and Adrienne Rich, and cross-genre artists like Alice Walker, Yoko Ono, John Cage, Sam Shepard, Spalding Gray and Patti Smith-while reserving Monday nights for emerging and younger poets, including Marie Buck, Alex Cuff, Tommy Pico, and Wendy Xu. Through its live events, workshops, and publications, The Poetry Project has connected thousands of experimental artists with audiences and with each other, sparking breakout ideas and launching wild interdisciplinary collaborations. Its colorful history reflects its milieu: Over the years, The Poetry Project has survived financial ups and downs, and even a three-alarm fire that demolished the roof of the church. Nonetheless, it has continued to expand its programs and publications, and has one of the most significant American poetry archives in existence.

"The Poetry Project has always been a vital space for poetry in New York, as well as performance and radical thinking," said John Ashbery. "It is at once a haven, favored meeting place, and community for artists of all stripes. I hope it continues its role as an incubator for 100 more years!"

In celebration of the 50th anniversary, the 2017 New Year's Day Marathon Reading will bring together a star-studded roster of cutting-edge artists from poetry, performance art, dance, and music. Over eleven hours from 3pm to 2am, 150 poets and other artists, including over 40 first-timers, will ring in the New Year and The Poetry Project's next half-century in the magnificent sanctuary of St. Mark's Church. Some of the confirmed participants include Anne Waldman, John Giorno, Martha Wilson, M Lamar, Eileen Myles, Thurston Moore, Jonas Mekas, Yvonne Rainer, Che Gossett, and Tracie Morris. The full lineup will be announced in December.

Since its founding in 1966, The Poetry Project has grown from a grassroots organization to an internationally regarded treasure with its archives housed at the Library of Congress. Located at the historic St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery, the Project has been a resource for working poets and a downtown hub for public literary events for 50 years.

The Poetry Project hosts three distinct reading/performance series, plus talks and special events, providing a platform for internationally renowned poets and multidisciplinary artists, as well as open-mic events. Through its "Emerge-Surface-Be" program, it offers nine-month mentorships, including stipends, to promising emerging poets. It also publishes a newsletter and occasional volumes of poetry, and maintains an extensive tape and document archive.

For more information about The Poetry Project, visit www.poetryproject.org.



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