romance

Li-Young Lee reads primarily from his second collection, The City in Which I Love You, which was published the same year as this reading. He also reads one poem from his first collection, Rose (1986).

Bill Knott reads widely from his work. This reading includes poems from Becos (1983), Outremer (1989), and Poems 1963-1988 (1989), as well as work collected later. 

Poet, playwright, and novelist Owen Dodson reads a range of poems from his distinguished career. As he introduces his poems, Dodson reflects on his consciousness as a writer, from his undergraduate days at Bates College to his engagement with spirituality, Civil Rights, and social justice.

Aurelie Sheehan reads a story from the collection Jack Kerouac Is Pregnant (1994), as well as two unpublished works.

John Barth reads excerpts from his novel Sabbatical: a Romance, a year before the novel's release. Copyright (c) John Barth, used with permission of the Wylie Agency LLC.

Ron Hansen reads two Nebraska-based stories: "True Romance," which combines two of the author's personal experiences in Nebraska and Minnesota, and "Nebraska," which was used as the prologue for a Nebraska-themed issue of Prairie Schooner (Summer, 1986).

Richard Jackson reads long poems from his collection Worlds Apart (1987) and others that would be collected in Alive All Day (1992). He begins with a poem by Thomas Hardy, "I Looked Up from My Writing."

Maurya Simon reads poems from The Wilderness: New & Selected Poems 1980-2016 (2018). This reading was originally given with Peggy Shumaker as the inaugural reading in the Tom Sanders Memorial Reading Series.