Waterways: Poetry in the Mainstream
Waterways: Poetry in the Mainstream is a New York literary magazine and community arts-education project associated with Ten Penny Players and Bard Press.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
Waterways: Poetry in the Mainstream is a New York-based literary and arts-education project that grew out of the populist poetry and small-press culture of the 1970s. Its best-known expression is a literary magazine that began publication in 1979 and adopted the title Waterways: Poetry in the Mainstream in June 1980. The publication was issued in monthly chapbook form for many years and provided a platform for both established and emerging poets, with particular attention to culturally and ethnically diverse voices and to writers working outside conventional literary institutions. The project was founded by publishers Barbara Fisher and Richard Spiegel and operated in association with Ten Penny Players. Its activities extended well beyond magazine publishing. In New York City, Waterways organized poetry readings, book fairs, workshops, and small-press events. Its first poetry reading and book fair took place at the South Street Seaport Museum on July 4, 1979. During 1980 it presented the American Populist Poetry Series, pairing twentieth-century poets with nineteenth-century predecessors selected by the participating writers. The project also supported the New York Small Press Book Fair and promoted independent presses, chapbook publishers, and individual poets. Waterways developed a substantial education and social-engagement program. Beginning in 1982, it worked with children and young people in special-needs, alternative, hospital, vocational, and correctional-education settings. The project partnered with New York City institutions including the New York City Vocational Training Center, the Brooklyn Literacy Center at Frederick Douglass, and schools on Rikers Island. Teaching artists used poetry, writing, performance, publishing, photography, and related arts to encourage literacy and creative expression. Richard Spiegel and other poets worked directly with students, while consulting artists included Liza Jessie Peterson, Ellen Lyttle, and Molly Barker. At its height, the program involved approximately forty teaching-artist consultants, according to the reference account. A particularly important part of the work took place at the Austin H. MacCormick Island Academy and other Rikers Island educational programs. Waterways teachers helped incarcerated students write and publish poetry chapbooks, giving participants a tangible public record of their work. The project was later credited in the documentary Rikers High. From 1981 through 2005, Waterways reportedly published 982 limited-edition student chapbooks for participants in New York City Alternative High Schools and Programs. A later curriculum developed in 2007–2008 combined pets, poetry, and photography as prompts for creative expression. The related Bard Press, associated with Richard Alan Spiegel, published poetry chapbooks from 1974 onward. Its catalogue included work by poets such as Enid Dame, Ida Fasel, Barbara A. Holland, Albert Huffstickler, Donald Lev, and Ron Singer. Together, the magazine, press, events, and teaching programs formed a literary ecosystem connecting independent publishing with community education. Waterways received support from the National Endowment for the Arts and, beginning in 1987, the New York State Council on the Arts. Its programs received recognition from Mayor David Dinkins's Very Special Arts initiative, the Pace Promise of Learning, and the Office of Alternative High Schools and Programs. In 2003, Barbara Fisher and Richard Spiegel received the Association of Teaching Artists Distinguished Service to the Arts in Education Field Award, while Ten Penny Players received an Achievement in the Arts & Humanities Award from the Council on the Arts & Humanities of Staten Island. The project is best understood not as a conventional commercial brand but as a literary-publication and community-arts identity centered on access, independent poetry, and arts-based literacy.
History
Waterways: Poetry in the Mainstream emerged from New York City's independent poetry and small-press movement in the late 1970s. Barbara Fisher and Richard Spiegel began the publication in 1979 under the name The Waterways Project. The project was conceived as a way to present poetry in accessible public settings and to connect literary activity with concern for the cultural and ecological significance of New York's waterways. Its first reading and book fair was held at the South Street Seaport Museum on July 4, 1979. In June 1980, the publication adopted the name Waterways: Poetry in the Mainstream. It continued as a monthly chapbook-style literary magazine and published a mixture of recognized and emerging poets. The magazine's contributors included Lyn Lifshin, Rochelle Ratner, Richard Kostelanetz, Cornelius Eady, Joan Larkin, Will Inman, Albert Huffstickler, Maurice Kenny, Ida Fasel, Sandra Maria Esteves, James Penha, Lester Afflick, Rose Sher, Magdalena Gomez, Bob Holman, Pedro Pietri, Enid Dame, and other poets associated with New York and the wider American small-press scene. The project also became an organizer and promoter. From March through August 1980 it presented the American Populist Poetry Series, pairing contemporary poets with earlier writers such as Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Adah Isaacs Menken, Pauline Johnson, Walt Whitman, Alice Cary, and Edgar Allan Poe. The readings were linked to letterpress publications and were documented in the magazine. Waterways supported additional readings and book fairs at venues including New York University, the Cedar Tavern, the Cornelia Street Cafe, and public libraries. A grant from the National Endowment for the Arts helped launch this activity. During the 1980s, the project's emphasis expanded from literary presentation to arts education. In 1982, Waterways developed a program for children with disabilities and began bringing creative instruction to hospitals, schools, prisons, and other sites. Richard Spiegel facilitated poetry workshops at the Jefferson Market Library from 1982 to 1995. Waterways and Ten Penny Players also worked with alternative and vocational institutions, including the New York City Vocational Training Center and the Brooklyn Literacy Center at Frederick Douglass. Rikers Island became a central site. Waterways teachers worked at the Austin H. MacCormick Island Academy, the Rikers Island Educational Facility, and the Rose M. Singer women's center's Rosewood High School. The program combined writing instruction with performance and publication, producing chapbooks of student work. Poets and teaching artists including Zoë Anglesey, Pedro Pietri, Fielding Dawson, Louis Reyes Rivera, Hal Sirowitz, Enid Dame, and Odimumba Kwamdela participated at different points. Before 2000, the separate Rikers programs were consolidated into one school structure. The project's publishing activity served as an important part of its pedagogy. Between 1981 and 2005, Waterways reportedly produced 982 limited-edition chapbooks for students in New York City Alternative High Schools and Programs. In 2007–2008, it developed a curriculum using pets, poetry, and photographs to encourage creative expression; Barbara Fisher later discussed this work in Reprising Joy: In Search of a Song, published in 2009. Bard Press, associated with Richard Alan Spiegel, extended the project's independent-publishing role. Beginning in 1974, it issued poetry chapbooks by writers including Enid Dame, Richard Davidson, Ida Fasel, Ilsa Gilbert, Barbara A. Holland, Albert Huffstickler, Matthew Laufer, Donald Lev, Clint McCown, Joy Hewitt Mann, Lydia Raurell, Joanne Seltzer, Ron Singer, and Patricia Kelly. Waterways received public and arts-sector support, including grants from the New York State Council on the Arts from 1987 onward. Its educational programs were recognized by Mayor David Dinkins's Very Special Arts initiative, the Pace Promise of Learning, and the Office of Alternative High Schools and Programs. In 2003, Fisher and Spiegel received the Association of Teaching Artists Distinguished Service to the Arts in Education Field Award, and Ten Penny Players received an Achievement in the Arts & Humanities Award from the Council on the Arts & Humanities of Staten Island. The project was credited in the 2005 documentary Rikers High. Its historical significance lies in linking independent poetry publishing with sustained, arts-based work among students and communities often excluded from mainstream literary institutions.
- 2007
New creative-expression curriculum is developed
[1]Waterways develops a curriculum combining pets, poetry, and photography for students in alternative education settings.
- 2005
Waterways is credited in Rikers High
[1]The project receives a credit in the documentary Rikers High.
- 2003
Teaching-artist and arts-achievement awards
[1]Barbara Fisher and Richard Spiegel receive a distinguished-service award, while Ten Penny Players receives an arts and humanities achievement award.
- 1987
New York State arts funding begins
[1]Waterways starts receiving support from the New York State Council on the Arts.
- 1985
Waterways begins work at the Island Academy
[1]The project becomes involved with poetry education at the Austin H. MacCormick Island Academy on Rikers Island.
- 1982
Special-needs arts education program begins
[1]Waterways develops a program for children with disabilities and expands its work into schools, hospitals, prisons, and other community settings.
- 1980
Publication is renamed Waterways: Poetry in the Mainstream
[1]The magazine adopts the title by which it became best known and presents the American Populist Poetry Series.
- 1979
The Waterways Project is founded
[1]Barbara Fisher and Richard Spiegel begin the literary project and hold its first poetry reading and book fair at the South Street Seaport Museum on July 4.
- 1974
Bard Press begins publishing chapbooks
[1]Richard Alan Spiegel's Bard Press begins issuing poetry chapbooks, establishing an independent publishing foundation related to the later Waterways activities.
Products and positioning
An independent, populist literary and community-arts project that combines poetry publishing, small-press promotion, public readings, and arts-based literacy education, particularly for underserved, special-needs, alternative-school, and incarcerated students.
Literary magazine · 1979
Waterways: Poetry in the Mainstream
A literary magazine issued in chapbook form, featuring established and emerging American poets, with a strong representation of culturally diverse writers and poets connected to New York's independent literary scene. It began in 1979 under another name and adopted its current title in June 1980.
Educational publishing · 1981
Student poetry chapbooks
Limited-edition publications collecting poetry written by students in New York City alternative high schools, vocational programs, special-needs settings, and correctional-education programs. Publication was used as both a literacy outcome and a means of giving students a public voice.
Poetry publishing · 1974
Bard Press chapbooks
An associated independent-press catalogue of poetry chapbooks by emerging and established writers. The press's titles included works by Enid Dame, Ida Fasel, Barbara A. Holland, Albert Huffstickler, Donald Lev, Ron Singer, and other poets.
Marketing campaigns
- 2007Pets, Poetry and Photographs curriculum
New York City
A curriculum using animals, visual imagery, and poetry as prompts for creative expression among students in alternative education settings.
Outcome. The approach was described in Barbara Fisher's 2009 account Reprising Joy: In Search of a Song.
- 1981In Search of a Song
New York City
An arts-based literacy and publishing initiative for students in New York City Alternative High Schools and Programs.
Outcome. The broader initiative continued through 2005 and was associated with the publication of 982 student chapbooks.
- 1980American Populist Poetry Series
United States
A New York reading and publishing series that paired twentieth-century poets with nineteenth-century poets of their choice. Events were connected with letterpress publications and were documented in Waterways.
Outcome. The series broadened the project's public programming and created a historical dialogue between contemporary independent poets and earlier American literary figures.
Brand decisions
1982
Expansion into arts-based educationStrategyBackground
Waterways had established a literary and public-programming base and sought to extend poetry beyond conventional literary venues.
Action taken
The project developed programs for children with disabilities and began sustained work in schools, hospitals, prisons, and alternative education settings.
Aftermath
Education and social-engagement work became a defining part of Waterways and Ten Penny Players' identity, including long-running programs at Rikers Island.
1980
Adoption of the Waterways: Poetry in the Mainstream identityStrategyBackground
The original Waterways Project was developing a recurring literary magazine alongside readings, book fairs, and small-press activities.
Action taken
The publication changed its name to Waterways: Poetry in the Mainstream in June 1980.
Aftermath
The new title became the continuing identity of the magazine and the wider literary project.
Sources1 sources
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