Poetry (Audio)

Poet, novelist and Native American scholar N. Scott Momaday has spent decades bringing his culture and the landscape alive through his writing. He received a Pulitzer Prize for his first novel, "House Made of Dawn." His books include "The Way to Rainy Mountain," "In the Bear's House," "In the Presence of the Sun: Stories and Poems, 1961-1991," and "The Gourd Dancer." He is also the editor of various anthologies and collections centered on his Kiowa heritage. As part of the Writer's Symposium By the Sea, host Dean Nelson sat down with Momaday at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to talk about his life in literature. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Humanities] [Show ID: 38122]

Our series of bringing arts and humanities practice to medicine continues with Thomas Dooley, poet-in-residence at the Center for Compassionate Communication at UC San Diego's Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion. Series: "Let's Jam: The Arts in Medicine" [Health and Medicine] [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 37987]

An internationally celebrated American novelist, short story writer, poet, and activist, Walker's work has been translated into more than two dozen languages, and her books have sold more than fifteen million copies. She wrote The Color Purple, for which she won the National Book Award for hardcover fiction, and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Walker's collected work includes poetry, novels, short fiction, essays, critical essays, and children's stories. She was the recipient of a Rosenthal Foundation award and an American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters award for In Love and Trouble. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Humanities] [Show ID: 35143]

Should your art send you to prison? Rap lyrics are increasingly turning up as evidence in courtrooms across the country. The fictional characters portrayed in violent gansta rap songs are often a far cry from the true personalities of the artists behind them, yet uninitiated audiences easily conflate artist with character and fiction with fact. On a broader scale, using rap lyrics as evidence in criminal cases also raises questions about artistic freedom, freedom of speech and the rights of all citizens to receive a fair trial. UC Irvines Charis E. Kubrin, Ph.D and Adam Dunbar explore these issues. Series: "Zot Talks" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 31368]

Emmanuel Jal, an internationally recognized hip-hop musician, former child soldier turned activist and entrepreneur, shares his story and music. Jal was born into the life of a child solider in the early 1980s in the war-torn region of Southern Sudan. He calls upon all of us to engage with our world and become global citizens through scholarship, leadership and service. [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33490]

Yusef Komunyakaa, an internationally renowned poet who won the Pulitzer Prize for “Neon Vernacular: New and Selected Poems," reads and discusses his work while writer-in-residence at UC Santa Barbara. Series: "Voices" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 32148]

Former Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky describes himself as a "composer" who considers poetry to be first and foremost a vocal art, and his work seeks to blur the distinctions between language and music by emphasizing the rhythms and innate physicality of recited verse in a jazz context. In this performance for the 22nd Writer's Symposium by the Sea at Point Loma Nazarene University, Pinsky's reading is accompanied by a talented trio of PLNU students. The music - a blend of rehearsed and improvised - employs a variety of jazz styles, sometimes sympathetic and sometimes in playful counterpoint, but always responsive to the poet's distinctive voice. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 30820]

UC Berkeley professors, Robert and Sally Goldman, led the 40-year project to translate the Sanskrit epic poem Valmiki Ramayana to modern English. Series: "UC Berkeley News" [Humanities] [Show ID: 31985]

New Orleans native Sunni Patterson is an internationally-known Def poetry artist and activist. She is joined in a conversation with George Lipsitz and David Kim about her music and poetry, and her life reaching, teaching and healing. Series: "Voices" [Humanities] [Show ID: 31570]

New Orleans native Sunni Patterson powerfully recites one of her many poems. Series: "Voices" [Humanities] [Show ID: 31630]

Poet Nikki Giovanni reads a selection of her poems as part of the 2016 Writer’s Symposium by the Sea at Point Loma Nazarene University. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Humanities] [Show ID: 30819]

Author, spoken word artist, poet, essayist, professor, Nikki Giovanni has been electrifying audiences for more than 40 years, earning her one of Oprah Winfrey’s Living Legends distinctions. She delivers here as well, with a passionate and engaging performance and interview with host Dean Nelson of Point Loma Nazarene University. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 29674]

One of the year’s most lively events, the student reading includes winners of the following prizes: Academy of American Poets, Cook, Rosenberg, and Yang, as well as students nominated by Berkeley’s creative writing faculty, Lunch Poems volunteers, and representatives from student publications. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 29740]

Joshua Weiner is the author of three books of poetry, most recently, The Figure of a Man Being Swallowed by a Fish (2013). He is also the editor of At the Barriers: On the Poetry of Thom Gunn, and the poetry editor at Tikkun magazine. He is the recipient of a Whiting Writers’ Award, the Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and a 2014 fellowship from the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, among others. A professor of English at the University of Maryland, he lives with his family in Washington DC. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 29365]

Jane Hirshfield's eighth poetry book, The Beauty, appears from Knopf in early 2015, along with a new book of essays, Ten Windows. Previous books include Come, Thief (Knopf, 2011) and After (2006), named a best book of the year by The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The Financial Times (UK). She has also written a book of essays, Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry and edited and co-translated four books of work by world poets of the past. Her honors include The Poetry Center Book Award, the California Book Award, finalist selection for the National Book Critics Circle Award, England's T. S. Eliot Prize, and fellowships from the Guggenheim and Rockefeller foundations, the Academy of American Poets, and the National Endowment for the Arts. A frequent presenter at universities and literary festivals both in the US and abroad, in 2012 she was elected a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 29540]

Harmony Holiday is a poet, dancer, and archivist, mythscientist and the author of Negro League Baseball (Fence, 2011), Go Find Your Father/ A Famous Blues (Ricochet, 2014), and “Hollywood Forever” (Fence, 2015). She reads to an audience at UC Berkeley. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 29488]

Maria Hummel is the author of the award-winning poetry collection “House and Fire“ and of two novels, “Motherland” and “Wilderness Run.” Her poetry, fiction, and nonfiction have appeared in Poetry, New England Review, Narrative, The Sun, The New York Times, and the anthology The Open Door: 100 Poems, 100 Years of Poetry Magazine. Series: "Story Hour in the Library" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 29366]

Gillian Conoley was born in Austin Texas, where, on its rural outskirts, her father and mother owned and operated a radio station. She is the author of seven collections of poetry. She is Professor and Poet-in-Residence at Sonoma State University. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 29108]

UC Berkeley Executive Director of Visitor and Parent Services La Dawn Duvall reads Maya Angelou’s poem “Phenomenal Woman.” Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 29005]

Robin Robertson is from the Northeast coast of Scotland. He has published five collections of poetry—most recently Hill of Doors—and received a number of accolades, including the Petrarch Prize, the E.M. Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Cholmondeley Award, and all three Forward Prizes. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 29009]

UC Berkeley Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of Students Joseph Defraine Greenwell reads Maya Angelou’s poem “Alone.” Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 29006]

UC Berkeley Professor of Environmental History, Philosphy and Ethics Carolyn Merchant reads David Iltis’ poem “The Lesson” Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 29007]

In partnership with City Lights Books, who first published Frank O’Hara’s “Lunch Poems” 50 years ago, this special event features readings from a newly expanded edition that also includes communiqués by O’Hara pulled from the City Lights archive housed at the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley. Participants include: Jayne Gregory, Robert Hass, Owen Hill, Elaine Katzenberger, Evan Klavon, Giovanni Singleton, Julianna Spahr, Joseph Bush and Matthew Zapruder. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 28889]

Hosted by Robert Hass and University Librarian Thomas C. Leonard, this event features distinguished faculty and staff from a wide range of disciplines introducing and reading a favorite poem. This year’s participants: La Dawn Duvall (Visitor & Parent Services), Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of Students Joseph Defraine Greenwell, Steven Finacom (Capital Projects), Alex Mastrangeli (English), Steve Mendoza (University Library), Carolyn Merchant (Environmental Science, Policy, & Management), Associate University Librarian Erik Mitchell, Shannon L. Monroe (University Library), and Kimmen Sjölander (Bioengineering) Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 28830]

UC Berkeley Bioengineering Professor Kimmen Sjölander reads “Keeping Quiet” by Pablo Neruda. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 29008]

Rowan Ricardo Phillips, award-winning poet, literary and art critic, and translator reads to an audience at UC Berkeley. His first collection of poems, “The Ground: Poems” was published in 2013. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 28137]

The annual student reading includes winners of the following prizes: Academy of American Poets, Cook, Rosenberg, and Yang, as well as students nominated by Berkeley’s creative writing faculty, Lunch Poems volunteers, and representatives from student publications. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 28341]

UC Berkeley Police Chief Margo Bennet reads “The Journey” by Mary Oliver. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 27812]

UC Berkeley Dean & Professor of Forest Economics Keith Gilless reads "The Rhodora" by Ralph Waldo Emerson Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 27815]

UC Berkeley professor Timothy Hampton reads the poem “Of All Works” by Bertolt Brecht. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 27818]

Leonore Wilson is Poet Laureate of Napa Valley and author of “Western Solstice” published by Hiraeth Press. She has received fellowships from Villa Montalvo Center of the Arts and University of Utah. Her poems have appeared in Quarterly West, Madison Review, Third Coast, Unruly Catholic Women Writers Poets Against the War, and TRIVIA: Voices of Feminism. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 28051]

UC Berkeley’s Dylan Hendricks reads “I Carry Your Heart With Me” by E. E. Cummings. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 27819]

Zubair Ahmed was born and raised in Dhaka, Bangladesh. In 2005, his family won the Diversity Visa Lottery, which granted them the opportunity to immigrate to the US. During the year-and-a-half before moving, he became a professional video gamer and then moved to Duncanville, Texas where he finished high school. Ahmed now studies mechanical engineering and creative writing at Stanford University. He is a member of the Stanford Solar Car Team, president of the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honors Society, and has recently delved into business and startups. City of Rivers, published by McSweeney’s, is his highly praised debut collection of poems. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 27725]

Cynthia Cruz’s poems have been published in the New Yorker, Paris Review, Boston Review, American Poetry Review, Kenyon Review and others. Her first collection of poems, RUIN, was published by Alice James Book and her second collection, “The Glimmering Room,” was published by Four Way Books in 2012. She has received fellowships from Yaddo and the MacDowell Colony as well as a Hodder Fellowship from Princeton University. Her third collection of poems, Wunderkammer, is from Four Way Books in 2014. She teaches at Sarah Lawrence College and lives in Brooklyn, New York. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 26024]

UC Berkeley Professor Emerita Patricia Penn Hilden reads “Indian Boarding School: The Runaways” by Louise Erdrich [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 27820]

UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas B. Dirks reads from Seamus Heaney's "Verses for a Fordham Commencement". Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 27813]

UC Berkeley assistant professor Keith P. Feldman reads from Mahmoud Darwish’s “Memory for Forgetfulness”. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 27814]

Linda Gregerson is the author of five books of poetry, most recently The Selvage (2012). Her many honors include awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim, Rockefeller, and Mellon Foundations, the Kingsley Tufts poetry endowment. Her third book, Waterborne, was a finalist for the National Book Award. Gregerson is Caroline Walker Bynum Distinguished University Professor at the University of Michigan. She reads to an audience at UC Berkeley. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 27967]

UC Berkeley’s Maria Mavroudi reads the poem “Bouzouki” by A. E. Stallings. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 27821]

UC Berkeley’s Jane Youn reads the poem “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop. [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 27823]

Award winning writer and poet C. S. Giscombe reads a poem before an audience at UC Berkeley, where he also teaches English. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 25625]

This reading is a special event celebrating the first anthology of Burmese poetry in English translation in more than fifty years. At a time of political transformation in Myanmar, Zeyar Lynn, poet, essayist, and translator presents his work from “Bones Will Crow: 15 Contemporary Burmese Poets.” Lynn is widely regarded as the most influential living poet in Myanmar and a translator of many Western poets, including Sylvia Plath, John Ashbery, and Charles Bernstein. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 25925]