| BPC | |
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The front facade of the Bowery Poetry Club |
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| Location | Manhattan, New York |
| Type | Performance Arts venue |
| Genre(s) | Poetry, Spoken Word, Slam Poetry, Hip-Hop, Experimental Theatre, Performance Art, Alternative Stand Up, Burlesque, Live Music |
| Opened | 2002 |
| Owner | Bob Holman |
| Website | http://www.bowerypoetry.com/ |
The Bowery Poetry Club is a New York City poetry performance space founded by Bob Holman in 2002[1]. Located at 308 Bowery, between Bleecker and Houston Streets in Manhattan's East Village, the BPC provides a home base for established and upcoming artists. "Events at Bowery Poetry Club feel less like staid literary readings than big, friendly parties replete with alcohol, conversation and some of the last edginess on the Bowery not yet channeled into hotels." - The Villager Bowery Poets: Bob Holman, Moonshine, Shappy, Beau Sia and Gary Glazner performed in March 2008, at SXSW in Austin. Time Out New York says, "The name of this colorful joint on the Bowery reveals its poetry-slam roots, but it’s also the truest current iteration of the East Village’s legendary arts scene." Go City Kids says, "Billed as a playground for language, the Bowery Poetry Club extends a welcoming hand to youngsters who love words with the Bowery Kids series of kid-friendly shows and readings." Bowery Kids shows every Sunday at noon. New York Times article on the American Sign Language poetry series hosted by Jason Norman held at the Bowery Poetry Club
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The original purpose of the building, built in the 1850s, was for a lumber yard. Its last incarnation before becoming the BPC was as a formica tabletop manufacturer that ran on DC current. Plywood scraps were used to heat the building via a pot-belly stove.
Currently, a group of arts-oriented investors owns the building. Other tenants include Washington Square Films on the 2nd floor, and the Manhatta on the ground floor next door to the Club.[2][3]
In the 2002 New York Times article written about the club, Bob Holman talked about the then-risky choice to open the club in "storied skid row" that was is the Bowery:
| “ | The Bowery is a vein of change. Being blind is not the way to retain the aspects of the past that need to be honored. In order to change the world, you have to be in the world. As you get older, the risk of selling out and becoming part of that system stays real but it's mitigated by wanting to get in there and dig... I can't tell if we are making it in the big sense, but we're making an impression.[4] | ” |
Regular shows include:
Additional programming is also provided by the non-profit Bowery Arts and Science, publishers of the Bowery Books series.