The Poetry Center welcomes Dr. Christine Redman Waldeyer as its new Director. She is Full Professor in English at Passaic County Community College, where she has taught writing, literature, and journalism for two decades. She earned her Doctorate from Drew University with a concentration in creative writing. She is the author of five poetry collections—The Nest, Where We Nest, Eve Asks, Frame by Frame, and Gravel. She is the co-editor of the anthology Writing After Retirement: Tips from Successful Retired Writers, and the founder and former editor of Adanna Literary Journal.
Please visit our YouTube channel with videos of readings and events covering decades of history from the Poetry Center.
A letter to the poetry community from Maria Gillan as she retires from The Poetry Center.
Distinguished Poets Reading Series
Check for our upcoming readings which are currently both virtual and in-person and are free and open to all. Readings are archived on our YouTube channel. (shown Mark Doty and Aimee Nezhukumatathil.
Poetry Workshops
There are workshops led by our Distinguished Poets prior to their in-person or virtual readings. The Center also offers workshops for Mature Poets and on Memoir writing.
Contests and Awards
The Poetry Center sponsors the Allen Ginsberg Poetry Awards for single poems, the Paterson Poetry Award for a poetry book, and the Paterson Prize for Books for Young People.
The 2026 issue of PLR has been published. The contributor reading is November 7 at the Poetry Center.
The Poetry Center at PCCC is funded, in part, by a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support provided by the Alin Papazian Poetry Center Memorial Fund, an endowment established by Albert Papazian in memory of his wife, a long-time employee of the Center.