Grolier Poetry Book Shop

history lives here! the best poets read here! the bookstore is exclusively poetry! it’s situated in a little hole-​in-​the-​wall behind harvard book store (which is also a fine store, but much bigger, as in they also have a warehouse and good-​sized profits and things). but the grolier, like a little animal, a little mythical animal that lives in the hearts of all poets also deserves some love. so do visit. and do go to their readings. and do buy things. poetry is alive. let’s keep it up.

maybe eight of the top ten bookstores i’ve ever been to are in boston. this is one such bookstore. ok, i’m slightly biased because of my affection for poetry. but it is a must if you find yourself in cambridge, mass. there are about a half dozen others i would not miss if you have a day or two in this excellent city. if you are a poetry fan like me, this should be at the top of your list.

Not much more to say, but I love this bookstore. The only remaining poetry-​only bookstore in the country, an historic landmark in the Boston literary community, and a great place to spend an hour (or three). The manager, Dan, is generous with his recommendations, incredibly well-​read and great fun to talk to. They carry chapbooks, letterpressed books from independent presses, even occasionally broadsides from local readings (they host a fantastic series of readings themselves). An absolute treasure.

Grolier is owned by a Wellesley professor of philosophy, Ifeanyi Menkiti. I loved it the moment I entered and saw the bespectacled elderly shopkeeper discussing poetry with a middle-​aged lady.
Grolier has some great poetry readings. It’s also the oldest poetry bookstore in the country.
The store itself is pretty small but has a diverse selection of poetry. Came out in an afterglow of intelligence and literary bliss.

The only exclusively poetry carrying bookstore east of the Mississippi. If you love poetry, what more do you need to know?

One of my favorite bookstores, around the corner from the Harvard Bookstore (which makes that street dangerous for my wallet). I believe this one-​room vault of poetry volumes is the largest bookstore in the world dedicated solely to poetry (the room is what, 650 sq feet?). Lined and stacked with poetry from a vast range of countries, time periods, and publishers. Whatever you don’t find in the room can be ordered for you. If you’re a poetry fanatic like me you can spend hours in here (if you don’t mind standing up and reading, which I don’t).
Staff is unusually knowledgeable about poems, and make great personalized recommendations if you ask them to. If you have a poet or poetry lover in your life, direct them here… because as a poetry buff, it’s one of those places you are thankful exists.

I had a really lovely experience here. The guy that helped me had many recomendations and took a lot of time with me. I was especially happy to be able to talk with an «expert» in such a non-​judgemental environment (my knowledge of english lang. poetry is very limited).
Thanks so much!

So cool so cool — all sorts of small literary presses included. Works that you wouldn’t find anywhere else — just spend an hour or two browsing through stuff.
Worst part is the hours — close at 6p some days, 7p others.

How do they manage to have so much good stuff in such a small space? You want Galway Kinnell? AR Ammons? Philip Levine? Something obscure? They have it. And not just the popular editions. They have the older volumes that you have been looking for. The ones that you think no one but you wants. Not only that but the people at Grolier seem to actually know something about poetry, so if you say «I really like Sharon Olds,» they will say «ah, and have you tried Louise Gluck?» We’re lucky to have this place.

Great little shop devoted to poetry. My friend jane said I was lucky as they never seem open when she walks by.
In fact, I almost couldn’t get in. Thinking the door was stuck, I tried to shoulder it open. Turns out it was locked. She opened it quickly for fear of me busting in!

I am afraid for businesses like these in hard economic times. I’m not even that big of a fan of poetry, but decided to go in and look for anything by a former professor, Gerald Locklin. While they were light on the Locklin (and Billy Collins, I might add), the guy working there told me about a poetry reading going on across the street that night at the Houghton Library. Good thing he did, ’cause the reading was amazing and I absolutely fell in love with Jeffrey Yang’s Aquarium poems.
I pray that places like this stay open forever …

It’s good to see a niche bookstore managing to survive, even if only barely. My poetry needs are not great and although my taste in verse runs more towards men from Nantucket, when I yearn for a Millay sonnet or something depressing by Larkin or Spender, I know exactly where to go.

I teach AP Lit, and I assigned a big poetry project to my students, so I decided to take them on a trip to Harvard Square to look for books. Grolier was the first stop, since I thought they could find some good contemporary poetry there. And that was true! The shopkeeper was very helpful, talked to all of the students about their interests, and led them in the right direction to finding poetry that they would find enjoyable. They have a lot of obscure poets, but I was surprised that they didn’t have much in the way of more popular contemporary poets. Regardless, this is a great place and I will continue to recommend it to my students and colleagues.

Books of poetry
Line the walls in stacks and piles
Worth haiku, methinks.

Poetry LIVES at the Grolier.
An institution, my professors all reminisced about this bookstore. Located on a Harvard Square side street, I was transported to Dickinsian London what with the cobblestone road and the poems plastered in the windowfronts.
This is why I moved to Boston to study poetry — the rich literary history of New England, proudly on display in the shelves of the Grolier, in the streets of this city and beyond.

Let me start this by saying that while I enjoy poetry, I’m not very well versed in the subject. Yes I know the majors, but I don’t have a lot depth. Well, I can certainly get depth here. Just going to Grolier is an education in itself. The shop is filled with all kinds of poetry books, from zines to Bukowski to Ovid. Dan the shopkeeper is very friendly and great for recommendations (recently turning me on to Edward Field). I can’t ever seem to leave without buying something, even if it’s a tiny small-​publisher (or self-​published) book by someone I’d never heard of, it’s inspirational just to be in there. The store is truly a gem of ours, with I believe only other poetry-​only bookstore in the country.

Grolier is an amazing bookstore. The only bookstore in the world (as far as I know) ENTIRELY devoted to poetry, and only poetry.
It’s tiny, but it maximizes its space, and they made some layout changes recently to make the space work even better. I was impressed on day a couple years ago when I wondered in and asked about «that poet who Olga Broumas translated» and the owner/​shopkeeper immediately went to the shelf and pulled down Odysseus Elytis. They know their stuff, and they have obscure poets you’ll never find anywhere else.

Thank god for the new owner. It’s nice to go in here and not get accused of shoplifting because one has the temerity to carry a satchel, or wear a coat, or look funny at the owner.
The selection is small and getting better — the new guy carries a more diverse selection of American poetry than Louisa did — and seems much more interested in actually working for & with customers (as well as poets). It’s still a little fusty, but definitely an improvement.

the grolier makes me happy like few places can.
setting aside that it’s the oldest poetry-​only bookstore in america, that it frequently showcases local poets, that the funny little man behind the «counter» is outrageously friendly/​enthusiastic/​helpful, that nearly every time i go in there there’s some kind of impromptu meeting of creative minds happening between customers, that the bookcases are kafka-​esque in their height and improbable, teetering construction, that they carry out-​of-​print editions and hard-​to-​find foreign authors as well as poetry-​on-​tape and collector’s editions…
what takes the cake in infinite awesomeness is the grolier’s motto:
«Every moment, every day, every month, every year, we celebrate POETRY!»
awww. it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

This small book store is nestled in Harvard Square behind the Harvard Book Store and is said to be the oldest continuous poetry book store in the United States. It stocks thousands of volumes of poetry of every kind!
The store has a great ambiance with photographs of famous poets covering the walls and volumes of poetry stacked up to the ceiling. It also often has poetry reading events which are open to the public.