Bowery Poetry Club

Infobox Venue
name = Bowery Poetry Club


image_caption = The front facade of the Bowery Poetry Club
nickname = BPC
location = Manhattan, New York
type = Performance Arts venue
genre = Poety, Spoken Word, Slam Poetry, Hip-Hop, Experimental Theatre, Performance Art, Alternative Stand Up, Burlesque
broke_ground =
built =
opened = 2002
renovated =
expanded =
closed =
demolished =
owner = Bob Holman
former_names =
seating_type =
seating_capacity =
website = http://www.bowerypoetry.com/The Bowery Poetry Club is a New York City poetry performance space founded by Bob Holman in 2002Aptowicz, Cristin O'Keefe. (2008). "Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam." Chapter 26: What the Heck is Going on Here; The Bowery Poetry Club Opens (Kinda) for Business. Soft Skull Press, 288. ISBN 1-933-36882-9.] . Located at 308 Bowery, between Bleecker and Houston Streets in Manhattan's Lower East Side, the BPC provides a home base for established and upcoming artists. "Events at Bowery Poetry Club feel less like staid literary readings than big, friendly parties replete with alcohol, conversation and some of the last edginess on the Bowery not yet channeled into hotels." - [http://www.thevillager.com/villager_276/thealist.html The Villager] Bowery Poets: Bob Holman, Moonshine, Shappy, Beau Sia and Gary Glazner performed in March of 2008, at [http://austinist.com/2008/03/12/this_week_in_th_18.php SXSW in Austin.] Time Out New York says, "The name of this colorful joint on the Bowery reveals its poetry-slam roots, but it’s also the truest current iteration of the East Village’s [http://www.timeout.com/newyork/kids/venues/east-village/1118/bowery-poetry-club legendary arts scene."] Go City Kids says, "Billed as a playground for language, the Bowery Poetry Club extends a welcoming hand to youngsters who love words with the [http://gocitykids.parentsconnect.com/attraction/bowery-poetry-club-308-bowery-new-york-ny-10012-us Bowery Kids series of kid-friendly shows and readings."] Bowery Kids shows every Sunday at noon. New York Times article on the [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/nyregion/thecity/07deaf.html?scp=1&sq=asl%20poetry&st=cse American Sign Language poetry series hosted by Jason Norman] held at the Bowery Poetry Club

Building history

The original purpose of the building, built in the 1850s, was for a lumber yard. Its last incarnation before becoming the BPC was as a formica tabletop manufacturer that ran on DC current. Plywood scraps were used to heat the building via a pot-belly stove.

Currently, a group of arts-oriented investors owns the building. Other tenants include Washington Square Films on the 2nd floor, and the Manhatta on the ground floor next door to the Club. [http://www.villagevoice.com/2002-09-24/news/po-show/ Village Voice article on the Bowery Poetry Club] ] [http://www.villagevoice.com/events/keith-gessen-and-charles-bock-554226/ Village Voice article on Charles Bock and Keith Gessen reading at the Bowery Poetry Club] ]

In the 2002 "New York Times" article written about the club, Bob Holman talked about the then-risky choice to open the club in "storied skid row" that was is the Bowery:

Facts and features of the Club

*2500 sq. ft. space
*12' x 20' stage + green room
*Run by an all-artist staffAptowicz, page 278.]
*Vox Pop Cafe in the front
*Full bar
*Community drop-space available for artist information distribution

Programming

Regular shows include:

*Bingo Gazingo, King of the Street Poets (Mondays)
*The Taylor Mead Show (Mondays)
*Monday Night Bingo hosted by Murray Hill (Mondays)
*The O'Debra Twins' Show and Tell (Mondays)
* NYC-Urbana Slam, Three-time National Poetry Slam Championship venue (Tuesdays)
*Theater of Fools (monthly on Wednesdays)
*Bad-Ass Burlesque (monthly on Saturdays)
*Praise Days: Bob Kaufman, June Jordan, Gregory Corso, Audre Lorde, Ted Joans, Dylan Thomas, Elizabeth Murray
*Emily Dickinson Marathon
*Bilingual Readings: The World of Poetry
*Eric Bogosian, Karen Finley, Danny Hoch, Sekou Sundiata, Sapphire
*Poets’ Soapbox (speak your mind in poetry)
*Bowery Kids! Up close and interactive entertainment for kids.
*Emanuel Xavier & The House of Xavier's annual Glam Slam
*Amina & Amiri Baraka and Blue Ark
*James Blood Ulmer
*Anne Waldman & Jim Carroll
*Uncle Jimmy's Dirty Basement
*Shaba Sher, Persian poetry & music
*Beatboxers Summit
*The Peoples Poetry Gathering
*Ed Sanders, John Giorno, Carl Hancock Rux, Toni Blackman, Tuli Kupferberg
*Rick Shapiro, the Lenny Bruce of Poetry
*Yusef Komunyakaa, Breyten Breytenbach, Jackson Mac Low
*The Segue Series
* [http://thebestamericanpoetry.typepad.com/the_best_american_poetry/2008/05/page-meets-stag.html Page Meets Stage] Additional programming is also provided by the non-profit Bowery Arts and Science, publishers of the Bowery Books series.

Trivia

*BPC's first show was on February 3, 2002: a Praise Day for Gregory Corso. There were no bathrooms, no chairs, no stage lights, and most importantly, no bar.
*Celebrities who have passed through the BPC's doors include: Matt Dillon, Fiona Apple, Saul Williams, Sarah Jones, Chuck Close, John Ashbery, Claire Danes, Patricia Clarkson, Patti Smith, Ani DiFranco, Michael McClure, Ted Joans, Robert Plant, Moby, Susan Sarandon
*'s Season 7, episode 7 was partially filmed at the BPC.

External links

* [http://www.bowerypoetry.com Bowery Poetry Club website]
* [http://www.boweryartsandscience.org/ Bowery Arts and Science website]
* [http://www.indiefeedpp.libsyn.com/index.php?search_string=UrbanaSlam&Submit=Search&search=1 Poems Recorded Live at the Bowery Poetry Club (podcast series)]
* [http://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Segue-BPC.html Archives of Segue Series]
* [http://www.litkicks.com/August10BoweryPoetryClubNYC/ Litkicks article on Brooklyn Poetry Day at the Bowery Poetry Club]
* [http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=17398 All About Jazz on a Jazz event at the Bowery Poetry Club]
* [http://vodpod.com/tag/burlesque Various videos of burlesque performers at the Bowery Poetry Club, including Jo Boobs, World Famous Bob and BadAss Burlesque]
* [http://www.litkicks.com/AmramOnBoweryClub/ David Amram on playing jazz with poetry at the Bowery Poetry Club and in the 1950s with Jack Kerouac]

References