Branching Out: Poetry for the 21st Century, Series Two

FAIN: LI-50068-06

Poets House, Inc. (New York, NY 10282-1240)
Lee Ellen Briccetti (Project Director: February 2006 to August 2009)

Implementation of a two-year series of lectures by poet/scholars in public libraries in eight cities, a training institute for participating librarians, bus posters, and a companion website exploring poetry.

Poets House and the Poetry Society of America request renewed support for Branching Out: Poetry for the 21st Century. As in the successful NEH-funded pilot project, leading poet/scholars will deliver accessible, engaging lectures in public libraries, challenging broad-based general audiences to deepen their interest in and understanding of poetry. The coordinated implementation of Poetry in Motion, the popular PSA initiative to place poems on public transport, will stir interest in poetry. Poets House, through Poetry in The Branches, its award-winning model for poetry services in public libraries, will mentor and support the libraries to amplify and sustain that interest. A companion Web site further extends the project's impact. The proposed project will run from September 2006 through August 2008. Eight cities will participate: Fresno (CA), Hartford (CT), Jacksonville (FL), Kansas City (MO), Little Rock (AR), Milwaukee (WI), New Orleans (LA) & Salt Lake City (UT).