Poetry for Children

Saturday, February 13, 2010, 11am
Floating Valentines: A Screening of The Red Balloon

Join us as we watch Albert Lamorisse's timeless children's classic The Red Balloon. Afterwards we'll make our own poetic floating valentines.

Admission Free

The Fist Clenched Round My Heart:
An Exhibition of Love Poetry at Poets House
On view: Saturday, February 13–Saturday, March 13

This intimate exhibition of love poetry is drawn from The Reed Foundation Library at Poets House.

Admission free

On Modern Poetry: Public Seminars with Michael Heller

In two round-table discussions, poet and critic Michael Heller explores major aspects of the origins and aesthetics of modern poetry. These seminars are a wonderful way for newcomers as well as poetry experts to map the broad and divergent landscape of modern American poetry.

Saturday, February 20, 2:00–5:00pm
The Foundations of Modern and Contemporary Poetry with Michael Heller

Readings for this first session will include the poetry and prose of Whitman, Dickinson, Pound, Frost, Williams and Stevens, with reference to the intellectual and cultural environment in which modern poetry arose. This is an open-enrollment seminar: no applications are needed.

$10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members; pre-registration is not required

Saturday, February 27, 2:00–5:00pm
“No Ideas but in Things”: Developments, Diversities, Dispersions, Disavowals with Michael Heller

Readings for this session include Zukofsky, Oppen, Moore, Niedecker, Harlem Renaissance poets, Olson, Black Mountain and Beat Poetry. We will discuss traceries, inflections and influences of the early modernist poets on the poetry that came after, with some reflections on shape and form in contemporary poetry. This is an open-enrollment seminar: no applications are needed.

$10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members; pre-registration is not required

Michael Heller is a poet, essayist and critic. Among his many books are the poetry collections Eschaton, Exigent Futures: New and Selected Poems and In the Builded Place as well as the memoir, Living Root. His most recent critical book is Speaking the Estranged: Essays on the Work of George Oppen. He taught for many years at New York University.

Master Class with Marie Ponsot
Saturday, February 27, 1:00–5:00pm
Sunday, February 28, 1:00–5:00pm
$390, space is limited
Application Deadline: Friday, February 12

Marie Ponsot's recent books include The Bird Catcher, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry; Springing: New and Selected Poems; and Easy. She is a native New Yorker who has taught at Queens College, Beijing United University, New York University and Columbia University.

Application Guidelines: Submit three poems accompanied by a cover sheet that lists your name, address, email address and phone number; no names/addresses should appear on the poems themselves. Applications may be sent to: Poets House, Attn: Classes, 10 River Terrace, New York, NY 10282, or, by email, to classes@poetshouse.org. Applications must arrive by the designated deadline.

Thursday, March 11, 7:00pm
Imagining Louisiana: A Conversation & Reading
with Darrell Bourque & Sheryl St. Germain
Moderated by James Tolan

Two Louisiana poets discuss the history, challenges and future of Louisianan poetry, examining the influence of culture and landscape as well as the work of Cajun and Creole poets.

$10, $7 for students and seniors, Free to Poets House Members

From top: Darrell Bourque, Sheryl St. Germain

Listening, Recording, Writing with Stacy Doris
Saturday, March 13, 11:00am–3:00pm
Sunday, March 14, 12:00–4:00pm
$280, pre-registration required; call (212) 431-7920 or email classes@poetshouse.org

This generative, hands-on workshop employs techniques centered in sound—listening, recording and performing—to chart new paths into poetry. The audio expert's toolkit will be adapted to writing, including mixing, multitracks, instrumentation, multiple takes, compression and sequencing. This is an open-enrollment seminar: no applications are needed.

Stacy Doris's books include Cheerleader's Guide to the World: Council Book; Knot; Conference; Paramour; and Kildare. She also writes books in French and has co-edited collections of new French poetry in translation. Her audio works include a feature-length creation for radio FranceCulture and, with Lisa Robertson, a series of recordings of 18th-century perfumes. She is on the Creative Writing faculty at San Francisco State University.

Tuesday, March 16, 7:00pm
Lyric Persuasions: A Conversation with Rae Armantrout & Norman Fischer

Poet Rae Armantrout and Zen Buddhist priest and poet Norman Fischer investigate new and old concepts of the lyric, using their own poems as jumping-off points.

$10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members

From top: Rae Armantrout, Norman Fischer

"How Does a Bird Imagine? What Does a Tree Know?"
An Exhibition of Community-Created Poetic Spaces
Opening Reception: Saturday, March 20, 3:00–5:00pm
On View through Saturday, May 29

For all ages, this exhibition documents the creation of poetic spaces by a public-school community in response to images of landscape and shared journeys: a bird, a tree, a labyrinth.

Part of Ecopoetic Futures, a series of events that examine poetry and the environment. Programs in this series are funded, in part, by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Council for the Humanities.

Admission Free

The Green Man: An Exhibition
Opening Reception: Saturday, March 20, 3:00–5:00pm
On View through Saturday, May 29

This series of paintings by British-born poet and painter Basil King depicts the Green Man, the pre- Christian archetypal figure of creation and the earth, emerging in the guise of British historical figures, such as Guy Fawkes and Walter Raleigh.

Part of Ecopoetic Futures, a series of events that examine poetry and the environment. Programs in this series are funded, in part, by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Council for the Humanities.

Admission Free

Tuesday, March 23, 7:00pm
The Green Man: A Panel with Carolyn Dinshaw, Michael Hrebeniak, Basil King & Thomas Meyer

Poets Basil King and Thomas Meyer join scholars Carolyn Dinshaw and Michael Hrebeniak for a discussion of the Green Man—the mythic figure that incorporates elements of nature and humanity—from medieval architecture and lore to 21st-century interpretations.

Part of Ecopoetic Futures, a series of events that examine poetry and the environment. Programs in this series are funded, in part, by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Council for the Humanities.

$10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members

Orbiting the World with Max Blagg
6 Tuesdays, March 23–April 27, 6:30–9:00pm
$310, pre-registration required; call (212) 431-7920 or email classes@poetshouse.org

This writing and reading class is a brief study of selected members of the New York School of poets, circa 1970–1980, with special reference to the church where they foregathered, and the magazines in which they appeared. Documentary film and recordings, live readings, and guest appearances, will enhance ongoing research into the history and mystery of some of the Saint Marks crew. Students will also be encouraged to contribute their own writings to a new magazine that will hopefully be developed and delivered by the final class. This is an open-enrollment seminar: no applications are needed.

Born in England, Max Blagg has lived in NYC since 1971. Long recognized as an influential performer and highly respected writer on the New York literary scene, his work has appeared in numerous magazines, including Bomb, Shiny, Interview, Village Voice, Open City, Aperture and elsewhere. He is on the visiting faculty of both the New School and SVA in New York City. Recent publications include Don't Look Back, collaboration with Jack Pierson. An autobiographical book of stories, Ticket Out, is forthcoming.

Visual Poetry with Jen Bervin 
6 Wednesdays, March 24–April 28, 6:30–9:00pm
$310, pre-registration required; call (212) 431-7920 or email classes@poetshouse.org

The word poetry is derived from  poïesis, the ancient Greek word that means "to make." During this workshop, students will make poems and experiment with ephemeral modes, tactile methods, unusual scale, spaces and durations in order to create a more open field for poetic possibility. Selected visual poetry, conceptual art, concrete poetry and artists' books will be presented; binding and fabricating techniques will also be explored for their compositional potential.  This is an open-enrollment seminar: no applications are needed.

Jen Bervin, poet and visual artist, is the author of The Desert; Nets; A Non-Breaking Space; The Red Box; and Under What Is Not Under. Her work has been shown at The Walker Art Center, The Soap Factory in Minneapolis, The Wright Exhibition Space in Seattle and elsewhere.

The Elegy with Bhisham Bherwani
6 Thursdays, March 25–April 29, 6:30–9pm
$310, pre-registration required; call (212) 431-7920 or email classes@poetshouse.org

This workshop is for poets interested in composing elegies and exploring the elegiac mode in English and American poetry. Discussions will focus on elegies for friends, lovers, spouses, parents, grandparents, children, siblings, and public figures, and will extend as necessary to embrace other related modes and themes in poetry. The participants will compose new poems, revise poems, and examine a selection of elegies by Auden, Bishop, Gilbert, Hardy, Heaney, Hirsch, Lowell, Merwin, Milton, Ponsot, Shelley, Stevens, Tennyson, Walcott and Whitman, among others. This is an open-enrollment seminar: no applications are needed.

Bhisham Bherwani's poetry collection The Second Night of the Spirit was published in March 2009 by CavanKerry Press. He has taught Creative Writing at Hunter College.

Poetry for Children

Saturday, March 27, 11am
The Little General and the Giant Snowflake with Matthea Harvey

Renowned poet Matthea Harvey reads from The Little General and the Giant Snowflake, her tale of a little general and his Realist army who attempt to fend off the imagination. Illustrator Elizabeth Zechel also leads a snowflake-making workshop.

Admission Free

Poetry & the City with Phillip Lopate
Saturday, March 27, 1:00–5:00pm
Sunday, March 28, 1:00–5:00pm
$280, pre-registration required; call (212) 431-7920 or email classes@poetshouse.org

Let Whitman, Reznikoff, Teasdale, O'Hara, Schuyler, among others, inspire you as you write and walk, observing and eavesdropping. This is an open-enrollment seminar: no applications are needed.

Phillip Lopate has written three personal essay collections, two novels, three poetry collections, a memoir of his teaching experiences, a collection of his movie criticism, an urbanist meditation and a biographical monograph. The recipient of numerous awards for his writing, he has also taught creative writing and literature at Fordham University, Cooper Union, University of Houston, New York University, Hofstra University, Columbia, the New School and Bennington College.

Saturday, April 3
Panel: 2:30pm; Reading: 4:00pm
Black Nature: A Panel & Poetry Reading
with Camille T. Dungy, Sean Hill, Yusef Komunyakaa & Evie Shockley

Contributors to the landmark anthology Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry gather for conversation and readings. Cosponsored by Cave Canem.

$10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members and Cave Canem Fellows

Part of Ecopoetic Futures, a series of events that examine poetry and the environment. Programs in this series are funded, in part, by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Council for the Humanities.

From top: Camille T. Dungy, Sean Hill, Yusef Komunyakaa & Evie Shockley

Saturday, April 10, 4:30–5:45pm
"Can Poetry Save the Earth?"
A Panel with Sandra Alcosser, Brenda Iijima, Leonard Schwartz & Jonathan Skinner
Poets House @ the 2010 AWP Conference in Denver

This panel brings contemporary poetry and poetics into conversation with ecological activism and education.

Admission free for registered AWP Conference participants For details, visit www.awpwriter.org

Part of Ecopoetic Futures, a series of events that examine poetry and the environment. Programs in this series are funded, in part, by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Council for the Humanities.

From top: Sandra Alcosser, Brenda Iijima, Leonard Schwartz & Jonathan Skinner

Tuesday, April 13, 7:00pm
Spain's Bard: Jesús Aguado
with Electa Arenal & Beatrix Gates

Award-winning Spanish poet Jesús Aguado is joined by his English language translators for a bilingual reading and conversation about Iberian poetry, translation and Aguado's work.

$10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members

Friday, April 16, 7:00pm
Texts to Argue Through: A Conversation
with John D'Agata, Thalia Field & Jena Osman

Essayist John D'Agata, cross-genre writer Thalia Field and experimental poet Jena Osman trace how research-based projects can evolve into book-length lyric essays and serial poems.

$10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members

From top: John D'Agata & Jena Osman

Poetry for Children

Saturday, April 17, 11:00am–3:00pm
Grand Opening of the Constance Laibe Hays Children's Room at Poets House

Join us for a celebration of our new children's room! Festivities begin at 11:00am with U.S. Children's Poet Laureate Mary Ann Hoberman and teacher Linda Winston sharing poems from their anthology, The Tree That Time Built: A Celebration of Nature, Science, and Imagination. The revelry continues with giveaways, creative writing exercises and other surprises.

Admission Free

From top: Mary Ann Hoberman & Linda Winston

Wednesday, April 21, 12:30pm
Nordic Voices: A Reading & Conversation
with Jörgen Gassilewski, Anna Hallberg & Jonas J. Magnusson

Young Swedish poets Jörgen Gassilewski and Anna Hallberg read their work and talk with conceptual artist and translator Jonas J. Magnusson.

Admission Free

Wednesday, April 21, 7:00pm
A Civil Feast of Jazz & Poetry
with Poet Afaa Michael Weaver & Jazz Musicians Harold Anderson, Bill Lowe & Stan Strickland

Poet Afaa Michael Weaver and acclaimed musicians perform jazz pieces and recitals of Weaver's poems, followed by conversation about music and verse.

$10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members

Thursday, April 22, 7:00pm
The Opening of the Field: A Conversation
with Nalini Nadkarni & Leonard Schwartz

On Earth Day, rainforest ecologist Nalini Nadkarni and poet Leonard Schwartz examine how poetic and scientific understandings of nature might be combined to inspire environmental stewardship.

Part of Ecopoetic Futures, a series of events that examine poetry and the environment. Programs in this series are funded, in part, by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Council for the Humanities.

$10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members

From top: Nalini Nadkarni & Leonard Schwartz

Friday, April 23, 7:00–9:00pm
Saturday, April 24, 2:00–5:00pm
The Opening of the Field: Workshops
with Nalini Nadkarni (Friday only) & Leonard Schwartz

These poetry workshops with rainforest ecologist Nalini Nadkarni and poet Leonard Schwartz introduce the surprisingly creative language used by scientists to describe ecology and explore commonalities between literary texts and ecosystems.

Part of Ecopoetic Futures, a series of events that examine poetry and the environment. Programs in this series are funded, in part, by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Council for the Humanities.

$200, pre-registration required; call (212) 431-7920 or email classes@poetshouse.org

Tuesday, April 27, 7:00pm
The Whole Island: Six Decades of Cuban Poetry
with Maria Isabel Alfonso, Lourdes Gil, James Irby, Mark Weiss & Christopher Winks

On the occasion of the publication of The Whole Island: Six Decades of Cuban Poetry, editor Mark Weiss, contributors and translators explore major trends in Cuban poetry, both on and off the island.

$10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members

From top: Lourdes Gil & Mark Weiss

Thursday, April 29, 7:00pm
Nox: From Box to Book with Anne Carson & Currie

With artistic collaborator Currie, poet Anne Carson discusses and reads from Nox, her illustrated "book in a box" that elegizes the loss of her brother with photos, collages, sketches and poetry written through the lens of her translation of Catullus.

$10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members

Saturday, May 1, 2:00pm
It's About Nature: Children's Learning & the Poetic Experience
with Richard Lewis

Richard Lewis converses with artists, teachers and parents about creating poetic spaces as a means of inspiring community and creative responsiveness to the environment.

Admission free

Part of Ecopoetic Futures, a series of events that examine poetry and the environment. Programs in this series are funded, in part, by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Council for the Humanities.

Monday, May 3 & Tuesday, May 4, 10:00am–8:00pm
Annual Chapbook Festival

Now in its second year, this two-day national festival of workshops and readings celebrates the microbook. Cosponsored 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.

@ The CUNY Graduate Center
For more information, please visit www.centerforthehumanitiesgc.org/festival

Admission free

Wednesday, May 5, 7:00pm
Close Observation: The Poetics of Flora & Fauna
A Reading & Conversation with Diane Ackerman & Kimiko Hahn

Diane Ackerman, acclaimed essayist and author of Dawn Light: Dancing with Cranes and Other Ways to Start the Day, talks with Kimiko Hahn, author of Toxic Flora and other poetry collections, about the role of environmental issues and science in their writing.

$10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members

From top: Diane Ackerman & Kimiko Hahn

Thursday, May 6, 7:00pm
Chile’s Dante:
An Evening with Raúl Zurita & Anna Deeny

The uncompromising Chilean poet Raúl Zuritareads from his work and talks with Anna Deeny, the English-language translator of his volume Purgatory.

$10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members

Tuesday, May 11, 7:00pm
Praises & Offenses: Women Poets from the Dominican Republic with Linda M. Rodriguez Guglielmoni, Judith Kerman, Ylonka Nacidit-Perdomo & Angela Hernández Núñez

Dominican poets Ylonka Nacidit-Perdomo and Angela Hernández Núñez are joined by their english-language translator, Judith Kerman, and scholar Linda M. Rodriguez Guglielmoni for a reading and conversation.

$10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members

From top: Ylonka Nacidit-Perdomo & Angela Hernández Núñez

Ecopoetics After Copenhagen with Jonathan Skinner

Poetry & Biodiversity: A Public Seminar with Jonathan Skinner
Wednesday, May 12, 7:00–9:00pm
$10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members; pre-registration is not required

In recognition of the International Year of Biodiversity, this seminar with poet and ecocritic Jonathan Skinner looks at current poetics and cultures of biodiversity, including forest languages and invasive activity in disturbed ecosystems.

 

Poetry & Watersheds: A Public Seminar with Jonathan Skinner
Friday, May 14, 7:00–9:00pm
$10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members; pre-registration is not required

Poet and ecocritic Jonathan Skinner examines how poets are responding to our relationship to water, taking into account emerging science, politics, and social and ecological inequities.

 

Urban Field Poetics: A Writing Workshop with Jonathan Skinner
Saturday, May 15, 1:00–5:00pm
$140, pre-registration required; call (212) 431-7920 or email classes@poetshouse.org

Building on the concerns uncovered in Skinner's two previous seminars, this workshop is an ecopoetics field audit that focuses on Poets House's location along the Hudson River and introduces site-based writing.

Jonathan Skinner's poetry collections include With Naked Foot and Political Cactus Poems. He edits the journal ecopoetics and writes ecocriticism on contemporary poetry and poetics. He also teaches in the Environmental Studies Program at Bates College.

Part of Ecopoetic Futures, a series of events that examine poetry and the environment. Programs in this series are funded, in part, by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Council for the Humanities.

Thursday, May 13, 7:00pm
Back Home: A Conversation & Reading
with Maurice Manning & Norman Minnick

Poets Maurice Manning and Norman Minnick share poems, tall tales and conversation about the nature of Kentucky poetry, from the lyric to the comic.

$10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members

From top: Maurice Manning & Norman Minnick

Tuesday, May 18, 7:00pm
Language of the Neighborhood: Chinese Poetry Today
with Arthur Sze & Lucas Klein

Poet, translator and editor of the new volume Chinese Writers on Writing, Arthur Sze reads and discusses modern and contemporary Chinese poetry with scholar and translator Lucas Klein.

$10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members

Thursday, May 20, 7:00pm
Sweethearts of Rhythm:
An Evening with Marilyn Nelson & Jerry Pinkney

Acclaimed poet Marilyn Nelson and artist Jerry Pinkney, winner of the 2010 Caldecott Medal, discuss their collaborative book, Sweethearts of Rhythm, which profiles the all-female, interracial band of the 1940s.

$10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members

Tuesday, May 25, 7:00pm
Ecopoetical Futures: A Panel with Marcella Durand, Brenda Iijima, Ted Mathys & Tyrone Williams

Four emerging poets investigate how poetry might marshal diverse languages, ethnicities and identities to engage with a global ecosystem under duress.

Part of Ecopoetic Futures, a series of events that examine poetry and the environment. Programs in this series are funded, in part, by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Council for the Humanities.

$10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members

From top: Marcella Durand, Brenda Iijima, Ted Mathys & Tyrone Williams

Thursday, May 27, 7:00pm
Elements & Energies:
Robert Hass & Brenda Hillman on Poetry, Ecology & Environmental Action

Robert Hass, former U.S. Poet Laureate, and Brenda Hillman, author of eight lauded collections, share their experiences of activism and writing in response to the natural world.

Part of Ecopoetic Futures, a series of events that examine poetry and the environment. Programs in this series are funded, in part, by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Council for the Humanities.

$10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members

Saturday, May 29, 1:00-3:00pm
An Ethics Occurs at the Edge of What We Know: A Seminar with Brenda Hillman

Author of Practical Water, among other poetry books, Brenda Hillman discusses poetry and activism, writing about the elements and ecopoetics, and the writing process in relation to political commitment and spiritual ideas.

Part of Ecopoetic Futures, a series of events that examine poetry and the environment. Programs in this series are funded, in part, by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Council for the Humanities.

$25, $20 for students and seniors, $15 for Poets House Members

Saturday, May 29, 4:00pm
Robert Hass & Brenda Hillman in the Great Outdoors: A Reading

This reading inaugurates Poets House's outdoor courtyard in the new South Teardrop Park.

Part of Ecopoetic Futures, a series of events that examine poetry and the environment. Programs in this series are funded, in part, by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Council for the Humanities.

$10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members

Tuesday, June 8, 7:00pm
What Love Comes To: A Celebration of Ruth Stone
with Chard deNiord, Toi Derricotte, Marie Howe, Maxine Kumin, Dorianne Laux, Sharon Olds, Bianca Stone, & Hillery Stone

In honor of Ruth Stone's 95th birthday, friends and fellow poets read from the acclaimed poet's volume What Loves Comes To: New and Selected Poems.

$10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House Members

Monday, June 14, 6:30pm
The 15th Annual Poetry Walk Across the Brooklyn Bridge: A Benefit for Poets House

Join us for this annual pilgrimage across one of New York City's great architectural gems. Leading poets read the words of Walt Whitman, Marianne Moore, Langston Hughes and other greats en route. The journey closes with a celebratory dinner and the presentation of the Elizabeth Kray Award for service to the field of poetry.

Tickets begin at $250 ($225 for Poets House Members). Reservations are required. For details or to make reservations, contact Krista Manrique at (212) 431-7920, ext. 2830 or krista@poetshouse.org.