Since 1977, The Cornelia Street Café has figured on an eclectic list of NYC venues where poets and musicians play to a knowledgeable, receptive audience. Aware of it only by reputation, I first visited the Café three years ago in response to a request to do the introduction for some poet friends of mine who were reading downstairs there. As soon as I walked in, lightning struck key and some door in me sprang open.

After the performance, I met Robin Hirsch, co-founder and still co-owner with two current partners, who acts as Culture Minister for the Café. As we talked and talked, we found we shared common views about the spoken word scene in Lower Manhattan, and about broader cultural and social issues as well. That night, Robin invited me to book poets and other performers for the space. Imposing no restriction on me whatever, he encouraged me to pursue my own tastes -- and to take chances.

I began bringing in readers and building audiences. At first I just scheduled people I knew directly or indirectly, but as the series gained momentum, I was emboldened to approach bigger-name poets. Now in our seventh season, word about the venue is so good that authors seek us out.

We host a vivid collage of fine writers, the well-known and the virtually obscure, along with slammers, academics, experimental writers, blue-collar upstarts, and a lot out-of-town talent. Anyone who’s doing good work and can perform it well in front of an audience has a shot. Some who appeared for us during the Fall season were: Kurt Brown, Mark Pawlak, Amy Holman, Janine Pommy Vega, Christian Langworthy, Marc Levy, Hal Sirowitz, Richard Silberg, Jordan Davis, Susan Hoover, Veronica Golos, Brett Axel, Thad Rutkowski, Monique Truong, Jean Valentine, and Paul Lisicky. [See below for February schedule. Ed.]

As curator, my greatest satisfaction comes from creating a forum in which I can introduce poets from diverse backgrounds and with disparate styles to a broader, more variegated audience, to the "other reader’s" friends, people who’ve never dreamed they might be moved by "that sort of thing," thereby bringing together writers and audiences who typically do not mix. I get the same kind of kick out of pairing David Trinidad with Elaine Equi or D. Nurkse with David Lehman and introducing them to high school students as I do from seeing MFA professors respond to working class and ethnic writers. To enjoy the freedom to bill Frank Lima and Hal Sirowitz together -- two brilliant and utterly dissimilar poets who each admire the other’s work -- is as close to curator heaven as anyone deserves to get.

What sets the Cornelia series apart from other readings -- excellent as they may be -- is its intimate cabaret atmosphere. That closeness fosters interaction. New networks, friendships, alliances form as first-time listeners wind up shoulder-to-shoulder with heard-it-all circuit veterans. Student writers meet editors. People come in, without even checking first to see who’s scheduled to appear, simply because we offer a virbrant, unpredictable alternative to corporate entertainment. After the reading, they have dinner upstairs or hang around for the live jazz.

A personal anecdote illustrates how poetry, which is thriving all over these days, can bring opposites together. An old school buddy of mine heard about the Cornelia series and came in. I hadn’t seen him since he joined the Army and I joined the Vietnam anti-war movement. That evening I was hosting some young, avidly leftist poets from the Bronx. After telling me, "You're still wrong," this old friend and I spent a great time getting reacquainted. Hell, we finally listened to each other! And two guys, cocky and contentious then, now middle-aged with grown children, discovered common ground we’d have thought unimaginable.

Write to tell me how quaint this sounds or to find out more about upcoming events at Cornelia. I often respond to strangers, and always to friends. <brnxpoet@idt.net>

Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street (betw. Bleecker and West 4th), (212) 989-9319. Readings begin at 6 p.m. The $6 admission includes a free drink.<www.corneliastcafe.com>.

February appearances:

06 Sun: Paul Lisicky, Vicki Hudspith, Donna Masini

18 Sun: Tom Padilla, Frank Van Zant, Michael Broder, Ishle Park

21 Wed: Sharon Mesmer, Helen Tzagoloff, Richard Loranger

25 Sun: El Cortes, Merry Fortune, George Green

28 Wed: Fiction from NYC area MFA students