WELCOME


Thanks for visiting, and thanks for your interest in the Carriage House Series. Walt Whitman wrote, “To have great poets, there must be great audiences.” Whether we meet electronically or in person, we're happy to share our commitment to poetry (and to poets) with you, our "great audience."

The Carriage House Poetry Series was established in December of 1998 by Fanwood, NJ's poet laureate Adele Kenny. The initiative began as a project funded in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Department of State, through a grant administered by the Union County Division of Cultural and Heritage Affairs. Since then, the Series has been funded by the Borough of Fanwood with additional grants from such generous organizations as the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders (HEART Grants), the Union County Division of Cultural and Heritage Affairs, and the Fanwood-Scotch Plains Service League.

Each year, with the exception of a safety-driven hiatus during the Covid pandemic, the series has featured some of the finest contemporary poets, including a wide range of nationally-known, regional, and local poets. Readers have included (among numerous others), Pulitzer Prize winners Stephen Dunn, Paul Muldoon, and Tina Kelley; Gerald Stern; Mark Doty; Alicia Ostriker; Patricia Smith; Taylor Mali; Gretna Wilkinson; Martin Jude Farawell; Maria Mazziotti Gillan; John Amen; Diane Lockward; Amanda Berry; Tony Gruenewald; R. G. Evans; and Laura Boss.

Readings are held in the Kuran Arts Center (a nineteenth century carriage house, formerly known as the Fanwood Carriage House and for which the series was named). The Arts Center is located on the grounds of Borough Hall, facing Watson Road off Martine Avenue (GPS use 75 N. Martine Avenue) in Fanwood, New Jersey.

All readings are free and open to the public; most include an open mic after the feature, and audience members are invited to share their poems.

Over the years, the Series has presented special programs with poets in costumes appropriate to various themes (usually around Halloween and to celebrate Carriage House anniversaries). Among the special presentations have been: "Festival of Famous Poets," "Poets' Apocalypse," "Monster Mash," "Wax Museum," "Gothic," "Renaissance Night," and "Their Legacy of Words."

Please take a moment to view our slideshows in the sidebar (just click on the arrows in the center).


Sunday, July 13, 2025

 Summer Hiatus 

 

    

As most of you know, the Carriage House Series is taking its annual summer hiatus during July and August. I'm hard at work planning the 2026 calendar and have reserved the second Thursday of each month for our use of the Arts Center (Carriage House).

 

 2026 CALENDAR

 

January—winter recess

February 12

March 12

April 9

May 14

June 11

July—summer hiatus

August—summer hiatus 

September 10

October 8

November 12

December 10 (weather permitting) 

 

We'll resume our 2025 readings on September 18th with Elaine Koplow and Jane Ebihara as our featured readers. Please save the 2025 calendar, and be sure to come to the Carriage House on September 18th—bring a poem to read in the open! 

 

In the meantime, here's wishing you a happy, healthy, and restful summer! 

 

Wishing each of you all the best, 

Adele 

 


 

 

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