Lucas Wittmann to Head the 92nd Street Y Unterberg Poetry Center

Seth Pinsky, CEO of the 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY), one of the city’s premier cultural and community centers, has announced that Lucas Wittmann has been appointed executive director of its Unterberg Poetry Center. 

Wittmann joins 92NY from Time, where he was the editorial director overseeing the ideas and opinion sections. Before that, he worked at W. W. Norton & Company, Regan Arts, and as literary editor of the Daily Beast and Newsweek. Wittmann also cofounded the nonprofit House of Speakeasy, which hosts literary cabarets at Joe's Pub at the Public Theater in New York City and brings writers into New York City schools.

“Having worked in the world of literature and publishing for many years, I know how much the Poetry Center means to writers, publishers, and most especially, to readers, and the impact it has had on those communities,” Wittmann said in a statement. “I am deeply honored to accept this role which allows me to play a vital role in building community through literature on one of America’s greatest literary stages.”

Founded in 1939, the 92NY Unterberg Poetry Center is named in honor of Bella Unterberg, one of 92NY’s founders, and is dedicated to showcasing established and emerging talent alike. The center’s reading series is one of the oldest (and considered by many to be one of the most revered) in the country.

In addition to the reading series, the Poetry Center has also implemented outreach programs to make events accessible to New York City public high school students.