Starting in the early 1980’s, municipal broadcaster WNYC-TV shifted from primarily broadcasting public ceremonies and government press conferences to creating original programming that highlighted the diverse cultures, events and people of New York. One such television program was Poetry Spots, originally conceived of by poet Bob Holman. Poetry Spots featured award-winning writers like Allen Ginsberg and paired readings of their poems with short video art segments usually featuring the authors themselves. Airing for six seasons from 1987 to 1993, the series won two New York Emmy awards and inspired other innovative programs on poetry and video art.

Bob Holman, We Interrupt This Program

Before Poetry Spots, Bob Holman was an active organizing member of the New York City poetry community. Originally raised in rural Ohio, Holman attended Columbia University in the late 1960s, but found his artistic home in the Lower East Side. After graduating, Holman became a member of multiple local poetry organizations, like the Nuyorican Poet’s Café and the St. Mark’s Poetry Project, as well as an active director and producer of plays written by fellow poets at The Poet’s Theater. Learning from his experience producing Poetry Spots, Holman went on to refine the format for his award-winning PBS series United States of Poetry in 1996. Still active today, Holman now runs several Bowery-based arts organizations, like Bowery Poetry Club and Bowery Poetry Books.

Jessica Hagedorn, Loft Living

Jessica Hagedorn is an award-winning American playwright, composer and author who first moved to New York in 1978 after growing up in Manila and getting her education in theater in San Francisco. She quickly wrote and staged several of her works like Mango Tango, Tenement Lover, Holy Food and Teenytown. Just after her appearance on Poetry Spots, Hagedorn released her 1990 novel Dogeaters, which caused controversy among Filipino communities for exploring themes of colonialization and westernization. At the same time, it won an American Book Award and has been adapted into successful stage productions several times.

Allen Ginsberg, In My Kitchen

Along with writers like Jack Kerouac and William S. Boroughs, Allen Ginsberg defined the Beat Generation of poets with his famous 1951 poem Howl. Born in Newark, New Jersey, Ginsberg lived in cities across the world, but spent much of his life living and working in New York’s East Village. For decades, Ginsberg was a prominent voice in the American counterculture, writing poems that denounced military actions like the Vietnam War, advocated for greater free speech and explored culturally taboo topics, like drug use and homosexuality. Ginsberg passed away in 1997 from liver cancer not long after a last public appearance at an NYU Poetry Slam. His last poem Things I’ll Not Do (Nostalgias) was written one week before his death.

June Jordan, Financial Planning and Sara Miles

June Jordan blurred the lines between journalist and poet perhaps more than any other author featured in Poetry Spots. Along with more than two dozen major works of creative writing, Jordan was also known for her journalism as a regular contributor to the publication The Progressive from 1989 to 2001, shortly before her death in 2002. Growing up in Harlem to parents who had emigrated from Jamaica, Jordan won many awards and grants as she progressed rapidly in her career, focusing on issues of racial justice, feminism, and queer rights. Her awards included a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship in 1982 and an award from the National Association of Black Journalism in 1984, to name just a few. In 2019, Jordan was added to the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor at the Stonewall National Monument in 2019 for her focus on LGBTQ issues in her writings, both fiction and non-fiction.

The full version of this episode of Poetry Spots is now available on the New York City Municipal Archives digital gallery, as well as compilations and other full episodes. Hundreds of hours of other programs from WNYC-TV that focused on arts and culture are also freely available, such as New York Hotline, Neighborhood Voices and Heart of the City. From 1985 to 1996, programs like these helped New Yorkers explore their City in ways they never would have otherwise. We hope that by preserving and making them widely available, they can inspire not only New Yorkers, but people from around the world.