new york city

In this performance, Allen Ginsberg reads from Howl (1956), Kaddish (1961), and Reality Sandwiches (1963). He also discusses his writing process and reads some unpublished excerpts.

Sharon Olds reads poems from her large body of work. This reading includes early versions of several poems that would go on to be collected in The Wellspring (1996). 

Mark Doty reads poems from his third book, My Alexandria (1993), together with poems that would be published two years later in Atlantis (1995). Reflections on the act of description recur throughout the poems, which inhabit Provincetown, Boston, and New York City. Doty also reads one poem set in Tucson from his second book, Bethlehem in Broad Daylight (1991).

Howard Moss reads widely from his body of work.

Jonathan Penner reads from Going Blind (1977) as well as work published in periodicals.

Maggie Nelson reads widely from her early work, including material from Shiner (2001) and Take Three: 3 (1998), along with uncollected poems.

Patricia Spears Jones reads poems from across her career as published in A Lucent Fire: New & Selected Poems (2015), along with uncollected work at the 2017 Thinking Its Presence conference. She also reads one poem from Stardust, landmines, and cartoons: Poems from 2006 to 2014 (2015).

Charles Simic reads from New and Selected Poems, 1962-2012 (2013) and The Lunatic (2015).

Mark Doty reads mostly new, uncollected poems that revolve around his observations and experiences living in New York City, with a focus on his co-op apartment building. He opens the evening with a memory of the mentorship he received as a high-schooler from Richard Shelton, who had recently passed at the time of this reading. This reading was given as part of the Tom Sanders Memorial Reading Series. 

Eileen Myles reads poems from a "Working Life" (2023) focused on daily life, love, animals, humor, and the act of writing. Myles opens with an unpublished essay and concludes with new poems—several of which respond to animal cruelty—as well as a short story.

Sheila Maldonado reads poems from her second book, that's what you get (2021), and a manuscript in progress titled bloodletters. Many of the poems incorporate visual components, and primary themes include New York City, Honduran heritage, and ancient Mayan culture. This reading was given as part of the Letras Latinas 20th Anniversary Reading with Gina Franco and Edgar Garcia.