Poetic Research Bureau, 2018.

Poetic Research Bureau, 2018.

Poetic Research Bureau

Fund: $10,000

The Poetic Research Bureau promotes literature and language-centered inquiry that seeks to expand the public domain and the scope and definition of literature itself. The Bureau provides forums to increase public access to literary and artistic practices that avoid service to academy, industry, or commerce, in pursuit of autonomy, free thought, and extra-disciplinarity. This includes work that is variously characterized as “difficult,” “minor,” “emerging,” “endangered,” “provisional,” or which eludes easy characterization. The Bureau advocates for intellectual resource sharing, material re-use, and the “creative commons.” It values artistic experiment and archival research equally, as well as translation and cultural encounter, pluralism and intellectual debate. In 2010, the PRB established its current storefront in Chinatown. The permanent location allowed the Bureau to present its archive of poetry and pamphlets; set up a small bookshop; and inaugurate reading groups, printing, and writing workshops. The programming grew from one event per month to 60-70 per year.