Grolier Poetry Book Shop

6 Plympton St., Harvard Square

Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138

phone: 617-547-4648

Hours of operation:

Tues. and Wed. : 11am-7pm

Thurs.-Saturday: 11am-6pm

Closed Sunday and Monday

Hall of Fame
Those who have visited the Grolier Poetry Book Shop, or have established a relationship with it over the years, inlcude: e.e.cummings, Marianne Moore, Conrad Aiken, T.S. Eliot, Robert Lowell, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Ai, Mary Oliver, Donald Hall, Kathleen Spivack,Natasha Trethaway, Caroline Froche, Jane Kenyon, Denise Levertov, Robert Creeley, and others. In the words of Robert Creeley, “Poetry is our final human language and resource. The Grolier Poetry Book Shop is where it still lives–still talks, still makes the only sense that ever matters”. Or, as Donald Hall, the 2006-2007 Poet Laureate of the United States, has put it, regarding the book shop, “The Grolier Poetry Book Shop is the greatest poetry place in the universe. If we love poetry, the Grolier is our temple, agora, cottage, mansion, coliseum, and estate. Support it! Support it! Support it!” Click here to view a slide show.

History
Founded in 1927 by Adrian Gambet and Gordon Cairnie, the original shop stocked mainly private press books, some poetry, and a sampling of avant-garde literature. Frequented over the years by the poets mentioned above, as well as others such as Charles Olson, Anais Nin, Seamus Heaney, Frank Bidart, Robert Pinsky, David Ferry, the literary tradition became well established.

In 1976, then owner, Louisa Solano, developed the Grolier as an exclusive showcase for poetry. She stocked some 15,000 current poetry volumes with an emphasis on the small press. This same year saw the co-sponsorship of the Grolier Poetry Prize with the Blacksmith House Poetry Reading Series. She also introduced the concept of autograph/reading parties. As the audiences increased, the poets moved from inside the store to the stairs. A formal reading series soon developed. Poetry street festivals were also held. In 1986 the Intercollegiate Undergraduate Poetry Reading Series was established. Eleven colleges were represented. In 1983 for the duration of her ownership, the Ellen La Forge Memorial Poetry Foundation assumed the funding of these activities and the sole responsibility of the Prize. In 1987 she received the Women’s National Book Association Award as one of 70 Who Have Made A Difference.

In April 2006 Ms. Solano sold the Grolier Book Shop to Ifeanyi Menkiti, poet and professor of philosophy at Wellesley College, with the shop opening under new management on May 6, 2006.

Mission Forward

Under the new ownership, the Grolier will continue to advance the cause of poetry, expanding on the foundation laid by the previous owners. It will earnestly work to develop and further interest in poetry among a wider more diversified audience, and will remain a facilitator of poets’ works through the sale of poetry books and the organization of poetry events. By thus promoting the written and spoken art of poetry, the Grolier Poetry Book Shop hopes to remain a key and vibrant player in creating a nourishing environment for the works of poets.

Poetry, we believe, has a lot to offer if only readers can learn to tap its powers by allowing themselves an openness to receive the gifts of its miraculous hand.