Public Access Poetry
Even if you were watching the innovation called cable TV in 1977 and 1978, what are the chances that you saw a show titled Public Access Poetry? Produced by Poetry Project stalwarts Greg Masters, Gary Lenhart, David Herz, Didi Susan Dubelyew, Daniel Krakauer, Bob Rosenthal and Rochelle Kraut, PAP programs featured half-hour readings by a wide range of poets and performers who could roughly be categorized as “downtown,” more often than not linked in one way or another with the Poetry Project. The cable TV series lasted two seasons (one live, the other recorded for later airing) and was produced with little-to-no broadcasting experience by the PAP personnel.
Forty-six fragile open-reel videotapes of these shows were preserved and, in 2009, were donated to the Poetry Project by the PAP team. A grant and subsequent anonymous support supported the preservation and digitization of 31 of the original tapes.
In April 2011, The Poetry Project, in collaboration with Anthology Film Archive, presented a two-program screening series at Anthology – one featured highlights from various episodes of Public Access Poetry and another showed three full episodes.
The Poetry Project, dedicated to making the Public Access Poetry archive available to the public, as envisioned by its producers more than 30 years ago, is happy to be collaborating with PennSound to accomplish this. Fifteen tapes remain to be transferred to complete this digital archive.
Video hosting courtesy PennSound.
HOW YOU CAN HELP! PUBLIC ACCESS POETRY FUNDRAISING DRIVE/KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN
We are currently seeking $3,800 in funding to have the remaining 15 open-reel tapes (approx. $250/tape) of Public Access Poetry preserved and digitized. The digital transfer of the 15 remaining tapes will not only complete this project, but will make the entirety of this valuable archive available and accessible to the public for the first time.
Please visit the PAP Kickstarter page to make a contribution. We have until November 15 to raise the $3,800 or the project won’t receive backing. Poet Erica Hunt writes: “$25 will go along way to reversing the decay of the the poetry record. Every one knows that watching a poet read is the 4th dimension of the text. As close to living witness as we can get pre-digitially.”
Thank you for your support!
April 20, 1977
Simon Schuchat, Jim Brodey, and Karen Edwards
May 19, 1977
Susie Timmons and Steve Levine
June 9, 1977
Bob Rosenthal and Paul Violi
June 16, 1977
July 7, 1977
Michael Scholnick and John Godfrey
July 14, 1977
David Herz and Gary Lenhart
July 21, 1977
Jeff Wright and John Yau
August 4, 1977
Ted Berrigan and Harris Schiff
August 18, 1977
Brad Gooch and Tim Dlugos
August 25, 1977
Barbara Barg and Rose Lesniak
September 1, 1977
Sara Miles and Bob Holman
September 22, 1977
Tom Carey and Poez
October 6, 1977
Steve Levine and Ted Greenwald
October 13, 1977
Greg Masters and Robert Meyers
October 17, 1977
Jude Webber, Didi Susan Dubelyew, Rochelle Kraut and Susie Timmons
October 20, 1977
James Sherry and Yuki Hartman
November 24, 1977
Michael Brownstein and Jim Brodey
December 1, 1977
Rene Ricard and Camille O’Grady
December 12, 1977
and
December 8, 1977
Tom Savage and Tony Towle / Simon Pettet* and Steve Carey
*Simon Pettet asked that we make available only an excerpt from his reading.
December 22, 1977
Nancy Ancrum and David Gitin
January 5, 1978
Joel Oppenheimer
January 12, 1978
Consumptive Poets League: Maggie Dubris. Elinor Nauen, Rachel Walling, Simon Pettet, Daniel Krakauer, Lenny Goldenstein, San Stokes
January 26, 1978
Peter Orlovsky with Steven Hall and Arthur Russell, Jackson Mac Low, and Sharon Matlin
February 16, 1978
February 28, 1978
Maureen Owen and Robin Messing
March 7, 1978
Bill Kushner and Michael Slater
March 22, 1978
Vincent Katz and Paul Schneeman
March 28, 1978
April 26, 1978
Bernadette Mayer and Lewis Warsh
July 13, 1978
Regina Beck and Miguel Algarin
Date Unknown
Harris Schiff and PennSound.
Funding to preserve “Public Access Poetry” was made possible through a Consulting Fund re-grant from the New York State Literary Presenters Technical Assistance Program (LitTAP). LitTAP is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), a State agency, and administered through Just Buffalo Literary Center. Additional funding was made possible through the generosity of two anonymous donors. All videos transferred by The Standby Program at MercerMedia with consulting support from Anthology Film Archives.
