form

John Ashbery reads widely from his body of work, including poems from both Shadow Train and A Wave, which were published in the four years that followed this reading.

Louise Bogan reads poems collected in The Blue Estuaries: Poems, 1923-1968 (1968).

Terrance Hayes reads from each of his published books: Muscular Music (1999), Hip Logic (2002), Wind in a Box (2006), Lighthead (2010), and How to Be Drawn (2015). He also reads recent, unpublished poems on the spectacle of violence. This reading was given as part of the Spectacular Poetics series.

Poet and translator Marilyn Hacker reads from her collections Names (2010) and A Stranger's Mirror (2015). She also reads from her translations from the French of works by poets Vénus Khoury-Ghata and Claire Malroux.

Bojan Louis reads from his poetry collection Currents (2017) along with other uncollected poems. This reading was originally given alongside Lehua M. Taitano. 

Arthur Sze reads from his poetry collection Sight Lines (2019).

Tyehimba Jess reads historical persona poems from leadbelly (2005) and his Pulitzer Prize-winning Olio (2016), including the full sonnet sequence about the McKoy twins from Olio. He also discusses the research behind Olio and the complex forms he uses throughout the collection, particularly his syncopated sonnets.

torrin a. greathouse reads poems from two manuscripts in progress: DEED, focused on the intersections of desire, desirability, and violence, and a newer manuscript that turns to California's Central Valley and climate change. Discussions of poetic form recur throughout. greathouse was selected as the Poetry Center's 2020 Summer Resident; due to the Covid-19 pandemic, her residency was deferred, and this reading was presented online.