We are pleased to now offer a thoughtfully curated selection of great poetry titles at deep discounts! So-called “bargain books” are titles that have been returned by previous booksellers to the publisher. While not brand new releases, I have procured a tasty collection of recent titles from 2019-2021 by iconic, diverse, and award-winning poets: think Carolyn Forché, Yusef Komunyakaa, John Ashberry, Amy Gerstler, Maggie Smith, Tracy K. Smith, Charles Simic, James Tate. Add a sprinkling of exciting newcomers and a smattering of innovative craft books, and voilà!

On April 30 at high noon, Bennett Middle School (BMS) teachers Kristina Countryman, Melanie Knutson and
Julie McCarthy arrived at The Poetry Barn, laptops in hand, courage in their hearts. The next few hours flew by in a whirlwind of words and images as they presented back-to-back virtual tours of The Poetry Barn for Bennet’s 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students via Google Meet.

The Poetry Barn is pleased to announce participation in Upstate Art Weekend, a new initiative celebrating creative spaces in the Hudson Valley, from August 29-30, 2020.

On the first day of Poetry Barn’s first annual Peak Color Retreat, while I stood in the barn as I have done many times before, the importance of the moment held a weight that I had not expected. Perhaps because Second Draft Sundays and the new lending library have both been creating an electricity within the stacks. Maybe because of the many weeks of brainstorming and execution that led up to the weekend. Or maybe because of the Rebel Poet—Philippe Petit—we were all anticipating. As cars full of poets pulled up the Poetry Barn’s steep driveway I truly felt as though I was being joined on a precipice.

During the Poetry Barn’s ribbon cutting ceremony last October, I wondered how the words that dispersed into that evening’s sunset could be represented in a publication, how the many voices could be curated in a way to represent the Poetry Barn’s array of talent.

In contemplating how best to honor Poetry Barn’s Indiegogo supporters, I gradually became obsessed with the metaphorical possibilities of the oak tree. We are blessed with a beautiful location in Catskill Park, a 700,000-acre forest preserve which includes many noble oaks, and is happily protected from many forms of development.

The Poetry Barn’s ribbon-cutting was filled with excitement and verse. From fire spinners to an open mic, the intimacy and breadth of the Poetry Barn was on display the entire night. The opening of the lending library was an exclamation point at the end of an already thriving artist community

A half dozen poets hike up a mountain. While it may sound vaguely like the set-up of a questionable joke, it turned out to be the start of a wonderful weekend. 

Flower Power: The Poetry of War and Healing, a workshop at the Poetry Barn led by Doug Anderson, who has written about his experiences in the Vietnam War in both poetry (The Moon Reflected Fire, winner of the Kate Tufts Discovery Award) and nonfiction (Keep Your Head Down: Vietnam, the Sixties, and a Journey of Self-Discovery), at once placed me in a rightfully uncomfortable space while freeing me from the idea that I could not engage with the subject matter.

The Second Annual Catskill Interpretive Center Book Fair, a working collaboration between the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, Writers in the Mountains and Poetry Barn, was a wonderful convergence of literature and nature. 

“Gilding the Lily: Art Journaling” with Catherine Shultis was a master class in art journaling.

In the recent Poetry Barn workshop “From Page to Stage” taught by David Gonzalez I was taken on a journey. This workshop was key in combating my stage fright. The tenets of David Gonzalez’s method is truly one of inclusivity.

A remarkable mix of publishers, exhibitors, workshops and authors—including two special guests with books of regional significance—are coming together for the Second Annual Catskill Interpretive Center Book Fair at the Center on Route 28 in Mt. Tremper on Saturday, June 24, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Catskill Interpretive Center Book Fair is a working collaboration between the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, Writers in the Mountains and Poetry Barn.

“Summer of Love: #PeaceLovePoetry” is a series of poetry events inspired by the underground literary and arts flourish leading up to 1967. From Flower Power: Poetry of War and Healing, to Significant Others: The Women Beats, the fiftieth anniversary of the cultural phenomenon will be explored through the Poetry Barn’s home neighboring Woodstock.“ The core values of the movement—compassion, social consciousness, and environmental awareness—are undergoing a resurgence,” observes Poetry Barn’s founding director Lissa Kiernan.