The Poetry Society of America opens new Storefront location in Brooklyn

This fall, the Poetry Society of America is moving from its longtime home at the National Arts Club to a storefront space at 119 Smith Street in Brooklyn to further its mission “to place poetry at the crossroads of American life.”

This new storefront space represents a transformative chapter in the Poetry Society’s history. The space will serve as both an office and a project space. We will use the space to host a variety of activities, including seminars, workshops, readings, children’s classes, and book launches. We will also use the large display windows as a laboratory for poetry-based public art projects, created in collaboration with poets, artists, and designers.

Best known for Poetry in Motion, its partnership with MTA Arts and Design to place poems in New York City subways, buses and transit stations, the Poetry Society is dedicated to making poetry part of the social fabric of daily life. Our programs make poetry accessible—and captivating—to broad audiences, particularly those who face barriers to cultural participation. We place poems in transit systems around the country; we deliver poems to Meals on Wheels recipients; we place poems in parks and gardens and on the walls of buildings; we have even placed poems on trash and recycling bins.

The Poetry Society’s new office and project space will bring these kinds of surprising, unexpected encounters with poetry to our front door. "Embodying the Poetry Society’s democratic values, this storefront space will deepen our relationships with poets and poetry readers, while also introducing poetry to new audiences in a dynamic and compelling way," says Matt Brogan, Executive Director of the Poetry Society of America.