The Poetry Society of New York

The Poetry Society of New York is an American nonprofit organized in the state of New York in 2015. Stephanie Berger and Nicholas Adamski are founding partners. Its mission is finding new and innovative ways to bring together the poetry community with the general public through a series of events and projects. Events are collaborative, interactive and sometimes held in large-scale public venues in contrast to traditional poetry reading formats. Based in New York City, its events are held locally, nationally, in South America and in Europe.
The society has published four collections of poetry.

History and funding

The society began under the name The Poetry Brothel in 2008. It was not incorporated until 2010 using instead the name The Poetry Society of New York, LLC. In 2015, The Poetry Society of New York, LLC was dissolved and The Poetry Society of New York, Inc. was incorporated. The Poetry Society of New York was granted 501(c)(3) nonprofit status in 2015 in New York State. The Poetry Brothel is now a program produced by the society.
Fundraising currently includes event ticket sales, memberships and financial sponsorships.

Events

The society has three current and four retired projects and events:

Current projects

The New York City Poetry Festival

The festival was first organized in 2010 and is funded in part by an annual Kickstarter campaign as well as sponsors that, in 2016, included the Brooklyn Brewery, The New School, New York State Council on the Arts, The Poetry Table and the Vermont College of Fine Arts.
The two-day poetry festival is held annually on Governors Island and features more than 200 poets. According to The New York Times, the 2015 event was expected to attract 4,000 attendees. Attendees for the 2016 festival attracted residents of West Virginia, Florida, New Jersey and "a poetry journal staffed by students from around the world." LiteraryManhattan.org stated in 2016 that the festival is "one of the largest poetry festivals in the country" and "features an open mic area, where attendees can explore their poetic voices; a Vendor's Village, where artists, artisans, booksellers and food-makers can sell their products; and poetry-generating, interactive art installations throughout." The winner of the 6th Annual Clint Eastwood Award for American Poetry was announced at the 2016 after-party held at Fraunces Tavern Restaurant.

The Poetry Brothel

The brothel experience is described in various sources as an interactive descent into a Victorian brothel or Prohibition-era Speakeasy populated with "whores" that are portrayed by male and female actors, artists and poets. Brothel events are a blend of burlesque, Vaudeville and poetic performances, the sum of which has been referred to as a "think tank for art." CultureTrip rated the brothel as one of ten suggested "Places To Experience Poetry Readings in NYC."
The Poetry Brothel has been staged in and/or maintains sister organizations in:

Past readers and performers include: Ariana Reines (2008), David Lehman (2008), Dorianne Laux (2009), Dorothea Lasky (2012), Karen Abbott (2015), Mark Doty (2013), Matthea Harvey (2015), Patricia Smith (2008), Paul Muldoon (2013), Robert Pinsky (2016), and Timothy Donnelly (2013).

The 2011 film "Cabaret Desire" by Erika Lust was based on The Poetry Brothel's events.

The Typewriter Project

The Typewriter Project is an interactive installation where a Smith Corona Sterling typewriter housed in a wooden hut is loaded with a 100-foot roll of paper and a custom USB port that records typed words and provides Internet access to the content. This technology provides further interactive participation with the text online. A solar generator powers it.
The installation is set up for limited periods in various parks and venues in New York City including McCarren Park, Governors Island, Tompkins Square Park and the Pen & Brush Gallery. Writer-contributors at the interactive typewriter installations include passersby as well as amateur writers and professional poets.

Retired projects

Brothel Books Publications

The society published three books of collected poetry under the imprint "The Poetry Society of New York, LLC & Brothel Books" during its active period between 2010 and 2012. A fourth book was published in handmade form.

The Ear Inn Series

In 2013, the society resurrected the Ear Inn Series, founded by Ted Greenwald and Charles Bernstein. The series was dormant after a 20-year run that began in 1978. The series was hosted at the James Brown House in TriBeCa, which in turn houses The Ear Inn restaurant and bar. During the society's revival of the series, the tradition of focusing on language poetry continued. The society's revival of the series was active between 2013 and 2014.

Quartier Rouge Revue

The Quartier Rouge Revue was a quarterly literary video journal started in 2011. It suspended operation in 2012.

The Translation Project

The project began in 2010 and published one book, "The Translation Project: The Poetry Brothel Poets, Spain and The United States, Volume I.” The project’s goal was to translate new poetry into several languages and publish them monthly. It has been on hiatus since 2012.

Controversy

Prior to the society’s first Poetry Brothel event, an organization in Brighton, England held an event by the same name. The controversy is referenced in a reader’s comment posted in an article by The Guardian dated October 24, 2014 titled "Poetry Brothel puts the bawd in bard" and The Review Review references another rival in Chicago, Illinois, which was started by The Poetry Society of New York but later went independent. There are no public records indicating legal action between any of the aforementioned entities.

Books

*"Andalucia" by Lisa Marie Basile
*"Inside Me a Whale is Taking Shape" by Nicholas Adamski (limited edition, hand-letter-pressed and hand-bound)
*"My Own Fires" by Lauren Hunter aka Harriett Van Os
*"The Translation Project: The Poetry Brothel Poets, Spain and The United States” edited by Berger, Adamski, Kiely Sweatt and Lisa Marie Basile

References

External links

Poetry Festival’s Official SiteImages of the Typewriter Project on PinterestSister organization and collaborator, Prostibulo PoeticoThe Poetry Society of New York YouTube ChannelNew York City Poetry Festival on Vimeo

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poetry Society of New York
Poetry organizations
2015 establishments in New York City
American writers' organizations
Organizations based in New York City