Since its establishment in 1980, the Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College has organized quality programs and projects that have brought it to national attention. The Passaic County Community College's Poetry Center is unique not only because of the number and variety of the services it offers, but also because of its connections with an urban, multi-cultural, multi-ethnic community. It is one of the most active poetry centers in the region, and quite possibly the country, earning a reputation for presenting high-quality programs. Through a broad mix of programs and services, including four poetry contests, the Paterson Literary Review (PLR), the cable TV show, POETRYWORKS/USA, and its website: www.pccc.edu/poetry,  the Poetry Center reaches more than 1,000,000 people annually. Approximately 100-130 activities are sponsored by the program each year. 

Distinguished Poets Series

The Poetry Center's monthly reading series features poets of national and international reputation. Our audience mingles people from our community with writers, editors, and poetry lovers from the region enjoying a forum for a democratic interchange of ideas. Through the open readings we give poets in our audience the opportunity to be heard by very well known poets and magazine editors. A number of writers had their work accepted by an editor on the basis of being heard by them in the open reading part of our programs.

Participating Poets

The Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College draws upon a vast network of professional poets to participate in its programs. All poets affiliated with the Poetry Center are professionals selected for the quality of their work.

The Paterson Literary Review (PLR)

PLR is a literary magazine which contains poetry, fiction, memoir, reviews, and artwork by individuals with international, national, and regional reputations as well as work by promising new voices. In the past we have published poets such as Diane di Prima, Laura Boss, Laurence Ferlinghetti, Allen Ginsberg, Galway Kinnell, Philip Levine, Marge Piercy, David Ray, Sonia Sanchez, and Ruth Stone. The winning poems of the annual Allen Ginsberg Poetry Contest are also published in PLR.

New Jersey Poetry Calendar

This monthly calendar lists readings taking place in New Jersey and has a wide distribution.

New Jersey Poetry Resource Book

Revised periodically, the New Jersey Poetry Resource Book contains names of poetry organizations, groups, centers, conferences, festivals, reading series, magazines, indexes, publishers, small presses, New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship recipients, as well as enrichment programs available in New Jersey. The purpose of this book is to increase the visibility of the poetry community and to encourage recognition for organizations in the State which are working to promote poetry.

The Poetry Center Library

The Poetry Center Library now contains more than 10,000 volumes of poetry, and a full collection of poetry reference books. The poetry books are available on inter-library loan and some people visit the library in person. The library helps to promote access to poetry books, which normally have very small print runs, and to make those books available to the community. It can be accessed from www.pccc.edu/library.

POETRYWORKS/USA

A series of programs based on our poetry reading series, it is aired on CableVision stations throughout Northern New Jersey. Check local listings for schedule.

Anthologies

The Poetry Center publishes yearly anthologies of the work of Paterson students, grade 1 through 12, who are winners of the Paterson Students' Poetry Contest.

Conferences

The Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College also periodically convenes topical conferences related to poetry writing. Some past conferences have been:

• Paterson-The Poem and the City: William Carlos Williams and the Poetry of Urban Experience. (1992)
• Unsettling America: Race and Ethnicity in Contempory American Poetry (1994)
• The Paterson Poetry Marathon (1995,1996,1997)
• Speaking of Jersey: Italian-American Women Writers on the Garden State (2001)
• Crossing Boundaries: Visual Art by Writers (2006)

The Allen Ginsberg Poetry Awards

An annual poetry contest open to established as well as new poets. First prize: $1,000; second prize: $200; third prize: $100 Winning poems are published in the Paterson Literary Review, and presented at a poetry reading award ceremony.

The Paterson Poetry Prize

The Paterson Poetry Prize of $1000 is given annually by the Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College for a book of poetry (48 pages or more) published in the previous year, with a minimum press run of 500 copies.

The Paterson Fiction Prize

The Paterson Fiction Prize is given annually to a novel or collection of short fiction published in the previous year. The prize is $1000.

Paterson Prize for Books for Young People

The Paterson Prize for Books for Young People is given annually for a book which, in the opinion of our judges, is the outstanding book for young people published in the previous year. A prize of $500 is awarded in three categories: Pre-K, Grade 3; Grades 4- 6; and Grades 7-12.

For further information about any of these prizes, contact Maria Mazziotti Gillan, Executive Director, The Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College at (973) 684-6555, mail a self-addressed stamped envelope for the application and guidelines, or visit us on our website at www.pccc.edu/poetry.

The Theater and Poetry Project (TAPP)

The Theater and Poetry Project (TAPP) operates in conjunction with the Poetry Center to bring an assortment of poetry writing workshops, performance poetry presentations, and Meet-the- Author sessions into the Paterson Public Schools. For the students, these experiences foster an enthusiasm for reading and writing by enabling them to meet authors, to understand the creative process and to release their own creativity by participating in the annual Paterson Students Poetry Contest which we sponsor in cooperation with the Poetry Center. Please visit our website, www.pccc.edu/TAPP

Support

The Poetry Center was named a Distinguished Arts Project, received Citations of Excellence, and is funded, in part, by a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, and made possible, in part, by funds from the National Endowment of the Arts, and Passaic County Community College, as well as individual contributions and memberships. The program also benefits from additional in-kind support from a variety of sources.

The POETRY CENTER contributors are designated as:

All contributions are tax deductible. Contributors are listed in our brochures, which are periodically updated and circulated throughout the country. Please make your check payable to: Passaic County Community College (with Poetry Center in memo section) and send it to:

Maria Mazziotti Gillan
Executive Director, Poetry Center
Passaic County Community College
One College Boulevard,
Paterson, NJ 07505-1179

We wish to express our appreciation to the Board of Trustees, and the President of Passaic County Community College, Dr. Steven Rose, for their support of the Poetry Center.