The Ktovet group and Poetry Place

'Ktovet' is a group of poets and writers, which run the Poetry Place project. It's members are: Shai Dotan, Dorit Weisman, Ariel Zinder, Lyor Shternberg and Gilad Meiri - poets who published poetry books, and got many literature prizes.
The Poetry Place (Makom L'shira) is a literary project that has been active since May 2002 in the Lev Ha'ir Community Center near the Mahaneh Yehudah Market in Jerusalem.
The Poetry Place occupies a unique spot in Israel's literary landscape, and especially in Jerusalem's inner city life, combining the cultivation of an appreciation for poetry, support for disadvantaged sectors of society, and the fostering of culture in Jerusalem's urban center.
The Poetry Place has a well-defined contemporary, literary-cultural agenda, which it promotes through participating in numerous literary and arts festivals, leading workshops for creative writing, and publishing of critical essays on its website. The Poetry Place is dedicated to spearheading cultural and social change, which includes changing attitudes toward poetry and poets.
From the moment it opened its doors, The Poetry Place has provided a warm and welcoming home for all lovers of poetry.
In 2008 we will produce a poetry festival and a literary magazine.

Summary of Poetry Place Activities since 2002
Regular Poetry Readings were held each month in the Lev Ha'ir Community Center.
The Poetry Place is a much sought-after platform for Israel's poets, not only because of the consistently high quality of its events, but also because of the large and discriminating audience that attends our evenings, and the regularity of our poetry evenings. These evenings are open and free to the public, in accordance with our agenda.
Workshop Series: In the course of 2006, we conducted 15 writing workshops and master classes. This is an unprecedented number of writing workshops for Jerusalem. Some of those attending have special needs whether psychological or physical; some workshops are designed for at-risk youth (in Jerusalem and Holon through the local municipal juvenile affairs department) and more. Each year several of our graduates are accepted into the prestigious "Helicon" Poetry Workshops.
Reading and Writing: Once a month we held a three-hour-long workshop for the general public, offering writing practice and poetry discussions. The workshops drew a wide variety of participants, reflecting the pluralism and openness of The Poetry Place; these included residents of Jerusalem's neighborhoods: religious and secular, young and elderly, and people with special needs. We note also that some participants make the trip to Jerusalem to attend the workshop, from locations as far as Hadera.
Festivals: The Poetry Place produced multimedia poetry festivals and poetry readings as part of: The International Poetry Festival (2003, 2006); The Metulla Poetry Festival (2006); The Hakhel Succot Festival (2002, 2005, 2006); Poetry Days Festival in the Desert at Sde Boker (2002-2006); The Sound of the Word by the Multimedia Arena (2005-2007, in which we served as co-coordinators); The Women's Festival in Holon (2006). Our Website: The leading Internet literary journal in Israel. It has operated regularly for the past year and a half. More than three thousand people visit the site each month. It is the only literary site in Israel that regularly publishes poetry criticism each month. One of the site's features is an exhibit of Portrait-Poems (portraits of poets alongside their signature poems). An exhibit was formerly on display at the Lev Ha'ir Community Center. Street Poetry 2006: The Poetry Place was among the initiators of this project. The Ktovet group served as the project's literary editorial board.
Poetry in the Community: The Poetry Place held literary-social events throughout the year, both in Jerusalem and in development towns in the Negev (Yerocham, Mitzpeh Ramon and more), which included poetry reading evenings and workshops, all free for the public.
Television Magazine Program: A 29-minute pilot for a TV series on poets was created featuring one of Israel's leading poets, Agi Mish'ol. It has been screened at poetry festivals and on community cable television.
Ktovet Poetry Collection; In the course of 2007, the "Even-Choshen" Publishing House will publish a volume of original poems by the members of Ktovet.