Bowery Poetry Club

Coordinates: 40°43′29.7″N 73°59′33.4″W / 40.724917°N 73.992611°W / 40.724917; -73.992611
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Bowery Poetry Club
BPC
Opened2002
Website
bowerypoetry.com

The Bowery Poetry Club is a New York City poetry performance space founded by Bob Holman in 2002.[1] Located at 308 Bowery, between Bleecker and Houston Streets in Manhattan's East Village, the BPC is a popular meeting place for poets and aspiring artists.

Building history

The building was built in the 1850s as a lumber yard. Its last incarnation before becoming the BPC was as a

pot-belly stove
.

In a 2002 article about the club in The New York Times, Holman talked about the then-risky choice to open the club on Bowery, which at the time was a "skid row":

The Bowery is a vein of change. Being blind is not the way to retain the aspects of the past that need to be honored. In order to change the world, you have to be in the world. As you get older, the risk of selling out and becoming part of that system stays real but it's mitigated by wanting to get in there and dig... I can't tell if we are making it in the big sense, but we're making an impression.[2]

The Bowery Poetry Club closed for renovations on July 17, 2012

TriBeCa. In the process, BPC dropped "Club" from its name, becoming "Bowery Poetry". The venue presents Duane Park's burlesque performances Tuesdays through Saturdays, with Bowery Poetry presenting shows on Saturday afternoons, Sundays, and Mondays.[4][5]

Bowery Poetry is operated by Bowery Arts + Science, a non-profit organization founded by Bob Holman, and run by filmmaker and poet Nikhil Melnechuk.

References

Notes

  1. .
  2. ^ Richardson, Lynda (November 12, 2002). "A Poet (and Proprietor) Is a Beacon in the Bowery". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
  3. ^ Solomon, Serena (July 17, 2012). "Bowery Poetry Club to Close as Questions Linger About Conversion Plan". DNAinfo. Archived from the original on 2014-02-28.
  4. Time Out New York
    .
  5. ^ Solomon, Serena (January 30, 2013). "Revamped Bowery Poetry to Open in March With New Name, New Look". DNAinfo. Archived from the original on 2014-02-28.

External links