The Public Access Poetry Story (short version)

In 2009, forty-six fragile open-reel videotapes of Public Access Poetry were donated to The Poetry Project by Greg Masters. A grant and three subsequent anonymous donations supported the preservation and digitization of 31 of the original tapes through The Standby Program at MercerMedia, with consulting support from Anthology Film Archives.

The Project is dedicated to making the Public Access Poetry archive available to the public, as envisioned by its producers more than thirty years ago. Currently, all 31 of the digitized episodes are being hosted on PennSound and are also viewable via our website.

We are currently seeking $3,500 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 rare archive available and accessible to the public for the first time.

Please consider making a donation through Kickstarter. Any amount is welcome, but there are cool Poetry Project gifts that go along with each level $25 and higher. We only have 36 days to go. If we don’t achieve our goal we’ll get zero dollars and have to hang our heads in sorrow! Please take the time to watch some of the videos to fully understand the important contribution PAP is making to a fuller understanding of poetry and community in NYC.