Poets House Announces (Temporary) Closure

Nationally renowned poetry library and literary center Poets House has announced a suspension of operations for the foreseeable future. Longtime Executive Director Lee Briccetti is also retiring. According to a press release issued by the Poets House, staff has been on full salary throughout the pandemic, but COVID-19's costs are too high: "[T]he diminishment of emergency funds and a difficult fundraising environment have necessitated this hiatus and a staff layoff," they write in a release. "The Board has chosen to act before our limited reserves are depleted so that we can offer staff severance packages and vacation pay." Briccetti went on to say:

“We will use this time to reflect on the extraordinary history of Poets House and reevaluate the organization’s future trajectory, especially in light of the new times in which we now live. Poets House has been a central part of my life for the past 30 years. There is nothing quite like it in the literary realm, and we must do all we can to ensure that it remains alive and vibrant.”

The Battery Park organization, home to over 70,000 rare and new poetry titles, is a resource and refuge for so many. We hope alongside them that "it will be possible in late 2021 to reopen once the pandemic is under control and Poets House has reconfigured its operations."

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