Poetry Spots

Created by New York poet Bob Holman in 1987, Poetry Spots was a series of short poetry recitations committed to VHS tape and produced for WNYC-TV. The "non commercial-commercials" were built around a poet performing a single poem in a location of personal or conceptual significance, from tiny kitchens to Coney Island. Active until 1993, the series was the first of its kind and introduced New Yorkers to a wealth of poets in their midst. As the idea of poetry films spread, "Poetry Spots" would become a compendium of filmed poems from across the country. This website is a comprehensive Poetry Spots archive drawn from Holman's digitized tapes. Click here for a 2020 interview with the series creator about the project's history and legacy.

Diane Burns

Alphabet City Serenade

Allen Ginsberg

In My Kitchen In New York...

June Jordan

Song Of The Law Abiding Citizen

Mark Ameen

Monologues of an Anonymonogamist

John Ash

Unwilling Suspension

John Ashbery

Purists Will Agree

Amiri Baraka

We Are Here

Barbara Barg

Fresh Out Of Nodland

Barbara Barg

Jazz Song

Paul Beatty

2 Black Men and a Baby On The Way

Roberto Bedoya

Jack Stellman

Baron Von Blumenzack

Oil Glut Sensaround

Roberto Bedoya

Pocho-Biography

Cathy Bowman

Chocolate Kisses 

Deaf and Non-deaf NYC HS Students

The Great American Roller Coaster

Poem

Lisa Buscani

Counting

Laura Ciporen

A Child's Guide To Parenthood

Laura Ciporen

Nostalgia

Dennis Downey

A Broom Haiku

Dennis Downey

Japan Man 

Dennis Cooper

Dear Todd

Sandra Maria Esteves

Just Another Day

Cathy Cook/Jen Evans

A Deed Without A Name

The Flying Words Project

Charlie

 reg e gaines

Cab

Jessica Hagedorn

Loft Living

Lois Griffith

Bacalaitos y Fireworks 

David Henderson

Eternity

Bob Holman

We Interrupt This Program

Alex Jacobs

The Law Is The Seed

Kurt Lamkin

The Foxes Manifesto

Paul Lamont

An Uncool Yul

Latin Empire

Why Can't We Be Friends 

Walter K. Lew

Treadwinds

Nancy Mercado

Holding Up Walls

Tracie Morris

You Startin' Wif Me

Ron Padgett

Poema del City

Jose Padua

New York City Marathon 

Grace Paley

On The Subway

Suzan-Lori Parks

Imperceptible Multibilities in the Third Kingdom

Pedro Pietri

Who Will Want You 

Ryan Junior High School Class

The ABC's of What I Hate 

Ntozake Shange

Reexamine Serial Monogamy

Patricia Smith

Chinese Cucumber 

Pamela Sneed

Rapunzel Was A Sister 

Mike Tyler

The 80's, A Toad

Carl Watson

Eddy Paris 

Karen White

More In Than Out

Nina Zivancevic

The Light Which Is Crisp Really Bothered Me

Helen Adam

Deep In The Subway

Yehuda Amichai

Poem With An End 

Eileen Myles 

An American Poem