Albany Poets is a local not-for-profit organization whose goal is to promote the poets and poetry of Upstate New York. Albany Poets hosts open mics, poetry readings, slams, music and spoken word events, and the annual Albany Word Fest to increase participation and attendance in the local arts community. Albany Poets’ website, www.albanypoets.com, is the most comprehensive resource in Northeast for news and events listings for poetry and spoken word. Albany Poets also publishes a free quarterly literary zine, Other:____, which showcases poetry, fiction, art, and more from not just the Albany area, but all over the country.

Albany Poets mission is to give everyone the platform to share their poetry with the world. Whether it is at an open mic, on a website, or in print, Albany Poets strives to integrate poetry and spoken word into the Capital Region.

MISSION

The mission and purpose of Albany Poets, Inc. is to increase awareness and activity of the art of poetry and spoken word in the Albany, NY area. AlbanyPoets, Inc. wishes to accomplish this by hosting poetry events, readings, open mikes, and workshops around the upstate New York area in order to promote the art and increase participation by both established poets in the community as well as new writers and performers. We wish to utilize the colleges and universities around the area in order to develop programs and events with students in an attempt to draw attention to Albany as a literary and cultural hub in the Northeast US.

AlbanyPoets, Inc. will also utilize its web presence (www.AlbanyPoets.com) as a way to showcase local talent in the areas of poetry and spoken word. The web site will also act as a community center, where visitors can find get information on poets, readings, events, and links of interest to the art. The website will feature a monthly calendar to highlight the numerous literary events in the Albany area. Visitors can also register to be included in official email lists and the AlbanyPoets.org Bulletin Board, where poets can post poems, news, reviews, and thoughts on the art.

HISTORY

Albany Poets (then, AlbanyPoets.org) began in May of 2000 by poets R.M. Engelhardt and Thom Francis as a way to promote poetry and spoken word in the Albany area by featuring local poets, spoken word performers and events on the Internet. During the first three and a half years of its existence, AlbanyPoets.org was able to help build the local literary community to a level where there was more poetry and spoken word events than ever before. The organization also sponsored poetry readings, the monthly reading series, The School of Night (then held at Valentines) and began the annual tradition known as the Albany Word Fest.

Since reorganizing in late-2003, Albany Poets has held a number of poetry readings, events, and open mics in order to create a greater interest in the local poetry and spoken word community as well as promoting the poets in the area.

The newly reformed Albany Poets held its first event in February 2004 with a Black History Month poetry reading at the main branch of the Albany Public Library. Performers at this event were invited to read poetry regarding to the theme of Black History. Local poets Mojavi and Marcus Anderson were among those who performed.

In April Albany Poets began the Project:SLAM! series at the Bayou Café in downtown Albany. At this series Albany Poets brought slam poetry to the Capital Region on a regular basis for the first time off of the local college campuses.  Later that month, Valentines hosted the Under Cover poetry reading. This event presented poets performing each others work as was a way to pay tribute to the local talent that exists in and around Albany.

In the fall of 2004, Albany Poets published the first issue of OTHER:. This quarterly literary zine is available free all over the area and features poetry, art, photos, comics, and more.

In January 2005 Albany Poets began its monthly poetry and spoken word open mic, Poets Speak Loud, at the Lark Tavern. At this series, the featured poet, usually a local artist, opens the show followed by the poets and performers who signed up for the open mic.

Spring brought a “new beginning” to the Albany Word Fest. Taking elements from three previous events, Albany Poets created a two day event, spread out over four venues in Albany featuring over 60 local poets and musicians. The 2005 Albany Word Fest was where Albany Poets released its’ first CD, Didn’t I Hear You Read? This project combined the words of local poets with music and beats created by producer Leo Faierman.

The Albany Poets Presents… event series began in July after the owners of Valentines approached Albany Poets about bringing poetry back to their stage. Albany Poets had hosted events there in the past, but this series, on the first Tuesdays of each month, was going to be different. Albany Poets Presents… would be an event series where each month would showcase something different, mixing poetry, music, art, and performance into one entertaining show.

In the fall of 2005 Albany Poets made their first appearance at LARKfest, the annual street fair / arts festival held on Lark Street.  Local poets RM Engelhardt, Dan Wilcox, Rachel Zitomer, Don Levy, and The Poet Essence made history as the first poets to perform at the event in twenty-four year history.