WBUR Visits the Boston Poetry Marathon

Boston's NPR affiliate, WBUR, checked out the Boston Poetry Marathon this weekend. This year, the marathon was organized by Jim Behrle, Mitch Manning, Audrey Mardavich and John Mulrooney; it was founded in 1998 by Sean Cole and Aaron Kiely. More:

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. It’s on the outskirts of Inman Square, but you must be able to spot the “186” from the Cambridge and Hampshire Street intersection, flanking the right façade of a faded brown triple-decker. You can’t help but tilt your head 45 degrees and stare at the giant white numbers that each must be close to eight feet tall.

The “186” denotes 186 Hampshire St., and on the left side of the building, past the sign for a psychotherapy office, you’ll find the entrance of Outpost 186 at 186 ½ Hampshire St., the setting for this weekend’s Boston Poetry Marathon. About 100 local and out-of-town poets will squish into the tiny gallery space Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 14 to 16, to read some of their original work. And in between readings, they will take smoke breaks, catch up with friends and give feedback on each other’s performances.

At past Boston Poetry Marathons, Jim Behrle says he’s seen some of the individuals that comprise what he calls “the Mount Rushmore of poetry.” These are the kinds of names that have stuck around in the poetry world, ones that loom large like Inman Square’s “186”—Robert Creeley, John Wieners, Forrest Gander.

Based in Jersey City, Behrle is now one of the organizers of the whole weekend with Boston-area poets Mitch Manning, Audrey Mardavich and John Mulrooney. The first one he attended as a senior in college impacted him profoundly.

“Over the course of the weekend at Blacksmith House in Harvard Square, half a dozen of the people became my future colleagues, half a dozen become my friends,” he says. “It was an earth-shattering event for me. When it happens, there are 20 amazing things you will never see again.” [...]

Learn more courtesy of WBUR in Boston.