persona poem

Seamus Heaney reads from Death of a Naturalist (1966), Door into the Dark (1969), Wintering Out (1972), North (1975), Field Work (1979), and Sweeney Astray (1983). The reading also features Heaney's lively banter.

Adam Zagajewski reads from Tremor (1985) and Solidarity, Solitude (1990). He also reads early drafts of translations of poems that would go on to be collected in Canvas (1991); most differ from those that appear in the published version of the book (translated by Renata Gorczynski, Benjamin Ivry, and C.K. Williams).

Ai reads solely from the manuscript for Sin, a collection published the year following this reading. She briefly discusses her time at the University of Arizona, where she was a student during the late 1960s.

Ishmael Reed performs poems from his extensive body of work, including several unpublished poems. He remarks that his reading will "start out with a song and end with a song"--that is, with his poems "Betty's Ball Blues" and "I'm Running for the Office of Love" as set to music by Taj Mahal and Allen Toussaint.

Steve Orlen reads from Permission to Speak (1978).

Patricia Smith reads widely from her work, including several uncollected poems.

In this reading at Pima Community College, Ai reads poems that would later be collected in Cruelty (1973), some of which differ from the published versions. She also reads several poems that would remain uncollected and talks about her experiences in graduate school.

Al Young reads poems from The Blues Don't Change (1982) and Heaven: Collected Poems 1956-1990 (1992), along with several prose selections.

Paul Zimmer reads from The Republic of Many Voices (1969), along with poems that would be published in The Zimmer Poems (1976) or remain uncollected. Making use of persona, narrative, and humor, he addresses topics such as childhood, identity, and mortality.

Steve Orlen reads from Permission to Speak (1978) and A Place at the Table (1981). This reading was originally given with Criss E. Cannady and Greg Pape. 

Lucille Clifton reads widely from her extensive body of work. This performance includes poems from her final collection, Voices (2008), as well as several uncollected and unpublished poems.

Heather McHugh comments on and reads poems from Hinge & Sign (1994) and The Father of the Predicaments (1999), as well as uncollected work.

Lucille Clifton reads poems spanning two decades of work.

Claribel Alegría reads poems and prose from Luisa in Realityland (1987), Woman of the River (1989), Fugues (1993), and Thresholds / Umbrales (1996).

Mary Szybist reads from her National Book Award-winning collection Incarnadine (2013).

Garrett Hongo reads from and discusses a cycle of poems written from the point of view of Kubota, a figure based on his maternal grandfather. He also reads poems written by Japanese internees at a detention center in Santa Fe during the 1940s.

Three celebrated British poets read poems from throughout their careers.

Stephen Dunn and Dave Smith read from their poems.

Steve Orlen reads from his collections Permission to Speak (1978) and A Place at the Table (1982), as well as from newer material.

Jim Simmerman reads from a manuscript that would become his collection Kingdom Come (1999), a series of persona poems written in the voices of various Biblical characters. Jewell Parker Rhodes reads from her first novel, Voodoo Dreams: A Novel of Marie Laveau (1993), inspired by the life of the famed 19th century Voodoo Queen. She reads two scenes from the novel, the first set just before Marie Laveau's tenth birthday, and the second during the performance of one of Laveau's greatest miracles.

Paul Zimmer reads poems inspired by his troubled youth during the Eisenhower years, as well as several persona poems.

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.

Rita Dove reads from Collected Poems, 1974-2004 (2016) and Sonata Mulattica (2009). She also reads uncollected work.

Ocean Vuong reads poems from Night Sky with Exit Wounds (2016). This reading was originally given with Camille Rankine.

Norman Fischer reads poems from I Was Blown Back (2005) and Questions/Places/Voices/Seasons (2009), along with one uncollected poem and a poem by Rodney Koeneke. He also answers questions from the audience.