Head to St. Mark’s on January 1st for a poetry reading like you’ve never experienced!
The 42nd Annual New Year’s Marathon is the Poetry Project’s annual benefit event, lasting from 2 p.m. until 2 a.m., with all funds raised going toward paying writers for their work throughout the season. As an event, it exaggerates what they want each reading during the season to do—to provide a site of collective agency, and create a communal and generative space for the audience and the poet to experience new work.
This year’s performers include: Heroes Are Gang Leaders, Hanif Abdurraqib, Julia Alsop, Penny Arcade, Ed Askew Band, Vyt Bakaitis, Jennifer Bartlett, Morgan Bassichis, Jim Behrle, Rijard Bergeron, Felix Bernstein, Anselm Berrigan, Edmund Berrigan, Jennifer Blowdryer, Stephen Boyer, Ernie Brooks with Peter Zummo and Jeanine Otis, Lee Ann Brown, Marie Buck, Steve Cannon, Wo Chan, Lonely Christopher, Yoshiko Chuma, Jace Clayton, CA Conrad, Todd Colby, John Coletti, Joey de Jesus, Ted Dodson, Thom Donovan, Maggie Dubris, Douglas Dunn, Marcella Durand, Andrew Durbin, Will Edmiston, Mel Elberg, Christine Elmo, Carlos Estrada, Betsy Fagin, Farnoosh Fathi, Carolyn Ferrucci, Jess Fiorini, Foamola, Tonya Foster, Joanna Fuhrman, Cliff Fyman, John Giorno, Aracelis Girmay, Philip Glass, John Godfrey, Ariel Goldberg, Nada Gordon, Stephanie Gray, Adjua Greaves, John S. Hall, Janet Hamill, Diana Hamilton, Christian Hawkey, David Henderson, Laura Henriksen, Mitch Highfill, Jibade-Kahlil Huffman, Erica Hunt and Marty Ehrlich, Lyric Hunter, Brenda Iijima, Lisa Jarnot, Paolo Javier, Serena Jost & Dan Machlin, erica kaufman, Joseph Keckler, Amy King, Jaamil Kosoko, Shiv Kotecha, Gabe Kruis, Ben Krusling, Susan Landers, Dorthea Lasky, Denize Lauture, Karen Lepri, Kimberly Lyons, Filip Marinovich, Dawn Lundy Martin, Andriniki Mattis, Yvonne, Meier, Jonas Mekas, Jennifer Miller, Jennifer Monson, Carley Moore, Thurston Moore, Saretta Morgan, Tracie Morris with Jerome Harris and Marvin Sewell, Sade Murphy, Eileen Myles, Marc Nasdor, Elinor Nauen, Martha Oatis, Edgar Oliver, Dael Orlandersmith, Valery Oisteanu, Morgan Parker, Trace Peterson, Wanda Phipps, Arlo Quint, Church of Betty, Montana Ray, Reno, Camilo Roldán, Bob Rosenthal, Douglas Rothschild, Judah Rubin, Tom Savage, Ryan Sawyer, Danniel Schoonebeek, Sarah Schulman, Ramsey Scott, Purvi Shah, Evie Shockley, Nathaniel Siegel, Yvette Siegert, Emily Skillings, Jesse Smith, Pamela Sneed, Patricia Spears Jones, Christopher Stackhouse, Sara Jane Stoner, Christina Strong, Steven Taylor, Nurit Tilles, Edwin Torres with David Brown, Tony Towle, Édgar Ulloa, Aldrin Valdez, David Vogen, Anne Waldman with Fast Speaking Music, Ken Walker, Nicole Wallace, Lewis Warsh, Simone White, Martha Wilson, Ulijana Wolf, Wendy Xu, Emily XYZ, Don Yorty, Jenny Zhang, and more to be announced.
Whether you stay for a little while or for the long haul, whether you’re part of the standing room only experience at sunset or with the handful of diehards as the final poet reads her last word in the predawn sanctuary, you will be transformed for the year to come. Your presence helps launch a great flare into the otherwise impenetrable darkness of the 21st century night. And in that flash, you will become what you were always meant to be, eager practitioner of the infinite, uncommodifiable, uncategorizable, rough around the elegant edges and ready for the world to hit you with its best shot.
Through its live programming, workshops, publications, website and special events, The Poetry Project promotes, fosters and inspires the reading and writing of contemporary poetry by presenting contemporary poetry to diverse audiences, increasing public recognition, awareness and appreciation of poetry and other arts, providing a community setting in which poets and artists can exchange ideas and information, and encouraging the participation and development of new poets from a broad range of styles.