In 1973 Suzie Kaufman and I taped a small poster on a lamp post at the corner of West 85th and Columbus Avenue. It announced an open poetry reading to be held that evening in the brownstone where we lived. The result was the Scribblers. A series of weekly poetry readings were held in the Upper West Side apartments of Vincenetta Gunn, Arlene Rosen, and Mary Seltzer, all along West 85th Street between Central Park West and Amsterdam Avenue. The next year, Rissa Korsun arranged with the Goddard Riverside Community Center for the Scribblers to hold workshops and print a broadside in a West 88th Street brownstone. Norman Bright set up a series of Scribblers’ readings at the English Pub on 57th Street and Seventh Avenue across the Street from Carnegie Hall which continued until 1975.
In 1975, my brother, Dennis, suggested I explore the possibility of presenting poetry at St. Clement’s, on West 46th Street. I arranged to meet with the vicar, Henry Sturdevant and members of the the church board. As a result a series of weekly poetry readings were scheduled to start after 10 pm on weeknights in a small theater space. The church also made available a 200 seat theater and sanctuary for marathon benefit readings. Steep and narrow stairs led to the third floor where a room was set aside for a small press library and in 1979 a poetry workshop led by Janet Bloom. By that time I had turned the running of the poetry program over to Mary Clark.
In 1980, Barbara Fisher and I approached the librarians at the landmark Jefferson Market Library (19th century courthouse on 6th Avenue). We offered to conduct weekly poetry writing workshops, one for children and one for adults. A table was set aside for us in the children’s room. Barbara led the children’s workshop and I worked with the adults. During the 15 years (1980-95) I facilitated this workshop it was held in the children’s room, the upstairs staff lounge, and the auditorium. When I left, Phyllis Braun took over the coordination of the program.
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