Fran Sanders

Public Poetry’s founding director has worked with arts nonprofits for more than two decades; she has served a director, board member, administrator and volunteer.  For 16 years, from 1995-2011, she programed and produced The Poets’ Corner at Taping for the Blind/Sight Into Sound studios.  Her bi-monthly programs were aired twice a week; in total 400 different poetry radio shows were developed for the visually impaired.  From 2009-2011, she established an audio archive of poetry, hosting and recording 60 poets who read their own work.

Seeing a need to bring the public and poetry community together, in 2011 Fran launched Public Poetry.  She conducted a test run of the programs that lasted a year and a half before applying for nonprofit status as a 501(c)(3)organization.  Convinced by a demonstrated need and measurable successes, a board of directors was formed, and she became Public Poetry’s Founding Director.