Poetry (Audio)
Episodes
Lunch Poems: A Korean Wave
01 Jul 2009
Contributed by Lukas
A remarkably strong generation of women poets has emerged in Korea in the last decade. Five of them visited Berkeley, reading, and talking to Korean-A...
Lunch Poems: Gary Snyder
04 May 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Born in San Francisco in 1930, world-renowned poet, essayist, and environmentalist Gary Snyder has published sixteen books of poetry and prose, and re...
Furay and Laswell Unplugged 2009
20 Apr 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Songwriters Richie Furay (Buffalo Springfield, Poco) and Greg Laswell (Three Flights From Alto Nido) share tips on composing lyrics and then play musi...
Lunch Poems: Tomaz Salamun
20 Apr 2009
Contributed by Lukas
One of the great postwar Central European poets, Slovenian Tomaz Salamun has published over thirty books. He has taught at universities around the wo...
Lunch Poems: Ilya Kaminsky
13 Apr 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Born in Odessa, Ilya Kaminsky immigrated to the United States in 1993 when his family was granted asylum by the American government. Kaminsky teaches ...
Lunch Poems: Tracy K. Smith
13 Apr 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Tracy K. Smith received degrees in English and creative writing from Harvard and Columbia, and was a Wallace Stegner Fellow in poetry at Stanford. Her...
Lunch Poems: Robin Blaser
06 Apr 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Robin Blaser emerged from the Berkeley Renaissance of the 1940s and ‘50s along with Jack Spicer and Robert Duncan, and later established himself as ...
The 90s
15 Sep 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Poet, editor, and scholar Juliana Spahr discusses her writing and research. Series: "The Center for Cultural Studies at UC Santa Cruz presents" [Huma...
Lunch Poems: Jessica Fisher
12 May 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Jessica Fisher’s Frail-Craft was the winner of the prestigious 2006 Yale Series of Younger Poets competition. She is a doctoral candidate in English...
Lunch Poems: Diane di Prima
05 May 2008
Contributed by Lukas
World-renowned poet Diane di Prima, one of the preeminent writers to emerge from the Beat generation, wrote in Manhattan for many years before relocat...
Lunch Poems: Arthur Sze
28 Apr 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Arthur Sze is an internationally known writer and celebrated translator. A recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and two grants from the National Endow...
Lunch Poems: Monica de la Torre
21 Apr 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Born in Mexico City, Monica de la Torre came to the United States in 1993 on a Fulbright scholarship to study at Columbia University. Her poetry explo...
Lunch Poems: Amiri Baraka
14 Apr 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Revolutionary poet, playwright, and activist Amiri Baraka is recognized as the founder of the Black Arts Movement, a literary period that began in Har...
Lunch Poems: John Matthias
07 Apr 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Rich in its landscapes and its search for personal discovery, John Matthias’ poetry encompasses vast territories of history and culture. He has publ...
UCSD Convocation: Derek Walcott
17 Jul 2007
Contributed by Lukas
Considered by literary critics to be one of the finest living English language poets, Walcott also is a playwright, author, visual artist, and profess...
Lunch Poems: Joanne Kyger
11 Jun 2007
Contributed by Lukas
A prominent figure in California’s poetry scene for decades, Joanne Kyger writes poetry influenced by her practice of Zen Buddhism and her ties to t...
Lunch Poems: Myung Mi Kim
21 May 2007
Contributed by Lukas
Born in Seoul, Korea, Myung Mi Kim travels to the root of language, connecting speech and culture in a rich web of immaculate phrases. Kim strips word...
Lunch Poems: Dunya Mikhail
23 Apr 2007
Contributed by Lukas
Iraqi poet Dunya Mikhail immigrated to the United States in 1996 after increasing harassment over her poetry, which confronts war and exile with subve...
Nathaniel Mackey
16 Apr 2007
Contributed by Lukas
Part antiphonal rant, part rhythmic whisper, Nathaniel Mackey reads from his new book of poetry and talks about his writing to an audience at UC Santa...
A Conversation with Eugene Peterson - 2007
16 Apr 2007
Contributed by Lukas
Author, poet, pastor and professor Eugene Peterson charms his audience as he recalls his effort to translate the Bible into The Message, an interpreta...
Lunch Poems: Jack Marshall
12 Mar 2007
Contributed by Lukas
Born in Brooklyn to an Iraqi father and a Syrian mother, Jack Marshall explores the cultures and cities that shaped his artistic awakening. Series: "...
Lunch Poems: Michael Palmer
05 Mar 2007
Contributed by Lukas
The recent recipient of the prestigious Academy of American Poets Wallace Stevens award for "outstanding and proven mastery in the art of poetry," Mic...
Lunch Poems: Will Alexander
06 Feb 2007
Contributed by Lukas
Will Alexander has created a contemporary alchemy of surrealist vision in his own electric incandescent language. Coined the Césaire of America, his ...
Ted Kooser at UC Davis
01 Jan 2007
Contributed by Lukas
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and recent US poet laureate Ted Kooser gives a public reading and answer questions on his art during a visit to UC Davis. ...
Lunch Poems: Mei-mei Berssenbrugge
24 Apr 2006
Contributed by Lukas
Born in Beijing, China, and raised in Massachusetts, Mei-mei Berssenbrugge molds language with seemingly effortless beauty and grace that invites the ...
Lunch Poems: Mary Karr
03 Apr 2006
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Karr's work has been deemed "hardboiled, hardedged, hardbitten" by Poetry. Her allure is a gripping combination of savvy intelligence and an utte...
Lunch Poems: Lawrence Ferlinghetti
23 Jan 2006
Contributed by Lukas
A prominent figure in the wide-open poetry movement of the 50s, Lawrence Ferlinghetti gave voice to a generation that changed the face of poetry forev...
Lunch Poems: Al Young
16 Jan 2006
Contributed by Lukas
California Poet Laureate Al Young has created a profound and enduring body of work that represents our time. Young's numerous publications in poetry, ...
A Natural History of Chicano Literature: A Performance Lecture by Juan Felipe Herrera
14 Sep 2005
Contributed by Lukas
Juan Felipe Herrera traveled as a child with his parents through many small farming towns and cities in California, until finally settling in San Dieg...
Poetry Reading: Ted Kooser
01 Aug 2005
Contributed by Lukas
U.S. Poet Laureate (2004-2006) Ted Kooser is a major poetic voice for rural and small town America and the award-winning author of ten collections of ...
Lunch Poems: Kick Off 2004
11 Oct 2004
Contributed by Lukas
A range of Berkeley luminaries read and discuss their favorite poems. This year's line-up: Barbara Ertter (Jepson Herbarium), H. Mack Horton (East As...
Lunch Poems: Robert Hass
02 Feb 2004
Contributed by Lukas
Former Poet Laureate of the United StatesHass is a UC Berkeley professor who has made important contributions in poetry, criticism, and translation. H...
Lunch Poems: Cornelius Eady
06 Oct 2003
Contributed by Lukas
Charismatic poet Cornelius Eady uses deft paradoxes to meet the world's absurdities head-on. In a powerful reading of his own work, Eady recites like...
Helen Edison Lecture: Yusef Komunyakaa
26 Jun 2001
Contributed by Lukas
Yusef Komunyakaa is known as a "jazz poet," a Southern writer and a "soldier poet." Author of nine books and winner of a Pulitzer Prize for poetry, K...
Tiepolo's Hound: A Reading by Derek Walcott
13 Mar 2001
Contributed by Lukas
Trinidad resident Derek Walcott won the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature. Walcott has published twenty volumes of poetry and is also a published playwri...
Barbarian Sweet: The Poetry of Marilyn Chin
12 Sep 1997
Contributed by Lukas
Marilyn Chin reads some of her poetry, including BARBARIAN SWEET, which she says retains ancient Chinese forms in a recognizable Western format Series...
Root Doctors: Quincy Troupe and Phil Upchurch
06 Dec 1996
Contributed by Lukas
Poet Quincy Troupe and jazz guitarist Phil Upchurch combine spoken word and music in a fluid, dynamic performance centering on the African-American ex...