Archive / 2000-2009

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McGrath, Campbell 2003

Wednesday, December 10, 2003

I’ve got the copyright on love, honey baby.
Registered patent number such &
such. Don’t dillydally with saxifrage
& sassafras, don’t bother me with this & that,

– Campbell McGrath, “Love (c)”

Broadside of “Love (c)” by Campbell McGrath

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Listen to Campbell McGrath’s 2003 reading for the Poetry Center of Chicago:

Today is a trumpet to set the hounds baying.
The past is a fox the hunters are flaying.
Nothing unspoken goes without saying.
Love’s a casino where lovers risk playing.
The future’s a marker our hearts are prepaying.

– Campbell McGrath, “Pentatina for Five Vowels”

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Read an interview with Campbell McGrath from the Kenyon Review:

Campbell McGrath | Kenyon Review Conversations

Campbell McGrath is the author of ten books of poetry, most recently In the Kingdom of the Sea Monkeys (Ecco Press, 2012). A resident of Miami, he teaches in the […]

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Madhubuti, Haki 2003

Tuesday, October 21, 2003
with Michael Anania

their memory occupies our dreams,
our waking minutes and the
seconds of our deep contemplations.
we are now in the rough tomorrows
of pain, outrage and reordering.

– Haki Madhubuti, “When 21 Is More Than A Number”

Broadside of “When 21 Is More Than A Number” by Haki Madhubuti

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Listen to Haki Madhubuti’s 2003 reading at the Poetry Center of Chicago:

Who has the moral high ground?
Fifteen blocks from the whitehouse
on small corners in northwest, d.c.
boys disguised as me rip each other’s hearts out
with weapons made in china. they fight for territory.

– Haki Madhubuti, “Rwanda: Where Tears Have No Power”

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Watch an interview with Haki Madhubuti:

Haki Madhubuti Interview

On the south side of Chicago The Authors Road met with noted poet, writer, educator and publisher, Haki Madhubuti. In this video he explains his birth in LIttle Rock and his growing up in Detroit and eventual discovery of like-minded writers through his local library.

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Lynch, Thomas 2002

Wednesday, March 3, 2002

It came to him that he could nearly count
How many Octobers he had left to him
In increments of ten or, say, eleven
Thus: sixty-three, seventy-four, eighty-five. 

– Thomas Lynch, “Refusing at Fifty-two to Write Sonnets”

Broadside of “Refusing at Fifty-two to Write Sonnets” by Thomas Lynch

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The body of the boy who took his flight
off the cliff at Kilcloher into the sea
was hauled up by curragh-men, out at first light
fishing mackerel in the estuary.

– Thomas Lynch, “He Posits Certain Mysteries”

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Watch a reading and interview with Thomas Lynch at the Chicago Humanities Festival:

Thomas Lynch: Poet & Undertaker

http://chicagohumanities.org – See more Chicago Humanities Festival events. “There is nothing like the sight of a dead human body to assist the living in separating the good days from the bad ones. Of this truth I have some experience,” writes Thomas Lynch in Bodies in Motion and at Rest: On Metaphor and Mortality.

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Lee, Li-Young 1982; 2003

1982
Monday, October 20, 2003

Silver, the women sing of their bodies
and the men. Darker, the men sing
of their ancestors and the women.
Darkest is the children’s ambition
to sing every circle wider. Dying.

– Li-Young Lee, “Every Circle Wider”

Broadside of “Every Circle Wider” by Li-Young Lee

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Listen to Li-Young Lee’s 2003 reading for the Poetry Center of Chicago:

 

Audio recording of the Poetry Center Reading Series featuring Billy Collins, Andrei Codrescu, Ron Padgett, Lucille Clifton, Mark Perlberg, Li-Young Lee, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Anne Waldman, Yusuf Komunyakaa, Lisel Mueller, Ted Kooser, Paul Carroll, Jorie Graham, and Paul Hoover.

Audio recording of the Poetry Center Reading Series featuring Billy Collins, Andrei Codrescu, Ron Padgett, Lucille Clifton, Mark Perlberg, Li-Young Lee, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Anne Waldman, Yusuf Komunyakaa, Lisel Mueller, Ted Kooser, Paul Carroll, Jorie Graham, and Paul Hoover.

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To pull the metal splinter from my palm
my father recited a story in a low voice.
I watched his lovely face and not the blade.
Before the story ended, he’d removed
the iron sliver I thought I’d die from.

– Li-Young Lee, “The Gift”

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Watch this interview with Li-Young Lee from the HoCoPoLitSo:

Li-Young Lee, a conversation of poetry and consciousness

In this edition of HoCoPoLitSo’s The Writing Life, poet and host Michael Collier speaks with Li-Young Lee in 1995 about poetry, prayerful attitudes and unconscious states. Lee reads his poem “Epistle” to start off the show, which Collier says acts as a sort of prologue to his first book of poetry, “Rose.”

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Lansana, Quraysh Ali 2003

Monday, November 3, 2003
with Simone Muench and Jennifer Grotz

folk live in ma bones
breathe ma breath
we night like skin

– Quraysh Ali Lansana, “burdens”

Broadside of “Elegy for the Unsaid” by Simone Muench, “Try” by Jennifer Grotz, and “burdens” by Quraysh Ali Lansana

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Listen to an interview with Quraysh Ali Lansana from WBEZ:

Quraysh Ali Lansana talks about his work and the ‘Verse Journalism’ project

Chicago’s own Gwendolyn Brooks coined the term “verse journalism.” The idea is turning to news for poetic inspiration. Lansana talks with Afternoon Shift about his work and the series, which was recorded in collaboration with the Neighborhood Writing Alliance, a station partner.

dis suit of clothes jus as empty
as a sky wid no stars
two years a workin    savin money
den    john drop out my heart

– Quraysh Ali Lansana, “hole”

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Watch Quraysh Ali Lansana discuss his book of poems, The Walmart Republic, for the Academy of American Poets:

Quraysh Ali Lansana: The Walmart Republic

Quraysh Ali Lansana stops by the Academy of American Poets to discuss his latest book of poems, The Walmart Republic, cowritten by Christopher Stewart. *For highest quality playback, change your view settings using the gear icon to 720p HD.

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Kooser, Ted 2006

Wednesday, March 15, 2006
with Alane Rollings

I lean on the wind and the wind leans on me.
We throw our arms around each other,
trying to stay upright, old drinking buddies,

– Ted Kooser, “Walking, Past Midnight”

Broadside of “Walking, Past Midnight” by Ted Kooser

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Listen to Ted Kooser’s 2006 reading for the Poetry Center of Chicago:

Audio recording of the Poetry Center Reading Series featuring Billy Collins, Andrei Codrescu, Ron Padgett, Lucille Clifton, Mark Perlberg, Li-Young Lee, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Anne Waldman, Yusuf Komunyakaa, Lisel Mueller, Ted Kooser, Paul Carroll, Jorie Graham, and Paul Hoover.

Audio recording of the Poetry Center Reading Series featuring Billy Collins, Andrei Codrescu, Ron Padgett, Lucille Clifton, Mark Perlberg, Li-Young Lee, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Anne Waldman, Yusuf Komunyakaa, Lisel Mueller, Ted Kooser, Paul Carroll, Jorie Graham, and Paul Hoover.

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The gravel road rides with a slow gallop
over the fields, the telephone lines
streaming behind, its billow of dust
full of the sparks of redwing blackbirds.

– Ted Kooser, “So This Is Nebraska”

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Watch Ted Kooser discuss his writing and routine from his home in Garland, Nebraska:

 

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Komunyakaa, Yusef 1996; 2003

Wednesday, December 11, 1996
Wednesday, May 14, 2003

Beauty, I’ve seen you
pressed hard against the windowpane.
But the ugliness was unsolved
in the heart & mouth.
I’ve seen the quick-draw artist
crouch among the chrysanthemums.
Do I need to say more?

– Yusef Komunyakaa, “Poetics”

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Listen to Yusef Komunyakaa’s 2003 reading for the Poetry Center of Chicago reading series:

Yusef Komunyakaa begins at 7:17 minutes.

Audio recording of the Poetry Center Reading Series featuring Billy Collins, Andrei Codrescu, Ron Padgett, Lucille Clifton, Mark Perlberg, Li-Young Lee, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Anne Waldman, Yusuf Komunyakaa, Lisel Mueller, Ted Kooser, Paul Carroll, Jorie Graham, and Paul Hoover.

Audio recording of the Poetry Center Reading Series featuring Billy Collins, Andrei Codrescu, Ron Padgett, Lucille Clifton, Mark Perlberg, Li-Young Lee, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Anne Waldman, Yusef Komunyakaa, Lisel Mueller, Ted Kooser, Paul Carroll, Jorie Graham, and Paul Hoover.

Buy this audio recording featuring Yusef Komunyakaa⇒

If only he could touch her,
Her name like an old wish
In the stopped weather of salt
On a snail…

– Yusef Komunyakaa, “Lust”

Broadside of “Lust” by Yusuf Komunyakaa

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Hand-to-hand: the two hugged each other
into a naked tussle, one riding the other’s back,
locking into a double embrace. One
forced the other to kiss the ground,

– Yusef Komunyakaa, “from Love in the Time of War“

Broadside of “from Love in the Time of War” by Yusef Komunyakaa

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Kogan, Rick 2001; 2002

Saturday, January 13, 2001
Saturday, February 2, 2002

The year 1936 was not a good year in America, except perhaps for the hundreds of people staring from the pages of the book, faces mostly smiling, filled with the youthful hope and confidence and ignorance that would allow them to see the future beyond the Great Depression.

– Rick Kogan, “America’s Mom: The Life, Lessons, and Legacy of Ann Landers

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Watch an interview with Rick Kogan:

Rick Kogan Interview

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Koch, Kenneth 2000

Thursday, February 10, 2000
with Dean Young
Tuesday, November 21, 2000

Hounded by Central Islip till the end
Of pyrethmetic days, and onward wishing
Oh that he like me and she like me too,
And the green arboretum bush waving
And the elephant in his noose waving
And the deaths saying goodbye–

– Kenneth Koch, “From Seine”

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Listen to Kenneth Koch’s reading with Dean Young for the Poetry Center of Chicago on February 10, 2000:

Not so unsound as a path
Nor so white as a star
Fairly wild with the sound of my own hoof
I the horse race into the back edges
Of my existence!

– Kenneth Koch, “The Horse”

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Read an interview with Kenneth Koch from Jacket Magazine:

Jacket 5 – Interview with Kenneth Koch

I guess it’s difficult to write a thousand long plays, but some of these are really short: I mean, like half a page. Why are they so short – probably I really don’t know. I just had the ability to write short plays at the time… I’ve written three-act plays…

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Kinzie, Mary 2003

Wednesday, October 22, 2003
with Christian Wiman

if the tears are to
stream coldly
like long streaks
of rain down the light
brick of the storehouse

– Mary Kinzie, “Close Path”

Broadside of “Close Path” by Mary Kinzie

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The flat, thus loved, is ours
by being broken in the rigid air:
the angle of the technical seen cause
and thorough reason, where we live. Nothing
eludes its narrow-gauged line. Little
pleases this lucidity, the eye
of conversation.

– Mary Kinzie, “Nature Morte”

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Watch Mary Kinzie read some of her work:

Mary Kinzie reads “At the In-N-Out”

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More info on Mary Kinzie⇒

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