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