Poets House

Poets House is a national poetry library and literary center that invites poets and the public to step into the living tradition of poetry. Our poetry resources and literary events document the wealth and diveresity of poetry and stimulate public dislogue on issues of poetry in culture. Poets House seeks to document the wealth and diversity of poetry and to cultivate a wider audience for poetry.

Poets House was founded in 1985 by former U.S. Poet Laureate, Stanley Kunitz, and the late Elizabeth Kray to provide something they felt was lacking in American cultural life: a place for poetry—library; meeting place; locus of discussion; research; writing and inspiration. We encourage people to make a place for poetry in their lives and recognize the value of that place, be it regular and permanent or brief and fleeting. As a poetry library and literary center, Poets House fosters this interaction by building and creating spaces for poetry (both physical and symbolic) where people and poetry comfortably come together. These "spaces" range from Poets House's own literary center and poetry library in Battery Park City to its national outreach program that assists public libraries in becoming centers for the discovery of poetry. We have developed a wide range of public programs that promote the vitality and diversity of modern poetry and bring its transformative potential to wider audiences.