For the first time ever, I participated in the 51st Annual New Year's Day Marathon Reading at the Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church. This year's event, like earlier ones, aimed to raise funds for the Poetry Project's numerous poetry-related efforts, including underwriting the Poetry Project's numerous readings throughout the year, its quarterly Newsletter, its various educational programs, and payment of readers and performers.
There was also a book fair, featuring some of the best poetry books you could find anywhere, as well as rare gems, broadsides, posters, etc. and food and beverages. The event drew over 1,000 people in person (I made sure to mask up when I wasn't reading) and 1,400 online, which I think was a very good turnout to start 2025.
I'm sharing a few of the photos I took that give a sense of the event, which is always a bit raucous. In the 3-4 pm session helmed by Nora Treatbaby, I read three poems, one by the late Palestinian poet and activist Refaat Alareer (1979-2023), killed during the current genocide in Gaza, the second by the late Nikki Giovanni (1943-2024), one of my favorite poets in my youth, and the third a poem of my own about anti-war protesting, which felt appropriate for now (when is it not ever the right thing to share?). The readings and performances were various, striking and worth catching, and I was able to capture a few images below.
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The .gif version of the flyer
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Some photos:
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In front of St. Mark's Church
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| The Poetry Project book fair |
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Food & drinks
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Christian Nyampeta
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Lauren Bakst
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The audience
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A packed St. Mark's
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Benjamin Krusling
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Setting up between sets
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An enthralled audience
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Bob Holman
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CA Conrad, as Jeannine Otis sings (beautifully!)
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| One of the Marathon reading co-founders, |
| Anne Waldman
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Jonathan Gonzalez
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Precious Okoyomon
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The reading sardine
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| Foamola |
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Nazareth Hassan (I think)
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