Archive / 2000-2009

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Gibbons, Reginald 2009

Wednesday, March 4, 2009
with Elise Paschen

Down in the blue-green water
at nightfall some selving shapes
float fluorescing, trance-dancing,
trembling to the rhythm of
theodoxical marching-

– Reginald Gibbons, “Confession”

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Reginald Gibbons on his experience and research with Greek poetry:

The loop of rusty cable incises
its shadow on the stucco wall.
My father smiles shyly and takes
one of my cigarettes, holding it

– Reginald Gibbons, “Luckies”

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Read this interview including Reginald Gibbons from the University of Arizona Poetry Center:

An Interview with Regie Gibson and Reginald Gibbons

By Frances Sjoberg Originally published in the University of Arizona Poetry Center Newsletter Fall 2004. Besides their nearly identical names, what do poets Regie Gibson and Reginald Gibbons share? Gibson, a songwriter and National Poetry Slam Champion, and Gibbons, a scholar and translator, here share their thoughts on poetry’s artists, audiences, and influences.

More info on Reginald Gibbons⇒

Forbes, Calvin 2005

Wednesday, March 2, 2005
with Rosellen Brown

A good chair a firm bed and you
Who said men aren’t domestic lied
My blues won’t make you blue
Never regret the world left outside

– Calvin Forbes, “Room 340”

Broadside of “Room 340” by Calvin Forbes

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Let the juices of watermelons sparkle, be candles
Near the shore. Yesterday’s rind is today’s
Twenty-four year old nostalgia. Listen–
Save the black seeds, and please laugh at your face.
The sea comes into my left ear on a visit, turns pink
Then goes away. I drop the seashell, return gingerly

– Calvin Forbes, “Poem On My Birthday”

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More info on Calvin Forbes⇒

Ferlinghetti, Lawrence 1986; 2002; ’03; ’06; ’14

Friday, April 4 1986
Thursday, October 17, 2002
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Wednesday, August 13, 2003
Sunday, June 26 2006
Thursday, October 2, 2014

The dove-white gulls
on the wet lawn in Washington Square
in the early morning fog
each a little ghost in the gloaming

– Lawrence Ferlinghetti, “I Genitori Perduti”

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Listen to Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s 2002 reading at the Poetry Center of Chicago:

Lawrence Ferlinghetti begins at 10:34 minutes.

Buy the audio for Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s reading below⇓

Audio recording of Lawrence Ferlinghetti's 2002 live reading at the Poetry Center of Chicago.

Audio recording of Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s 2002 live reading at the Poetry Center of Chicago.

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Vintage poster of Lawrence Ferlinghetti's reading at the Poetry Center of Chicago.

Vintage poster of Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s reading at the Poetry Center of Chicago.

I am waiting for my case to come up
and I am waiting
for a rebirth of wonder
and I am waiting for someone
to really discover America
and wail

– Lawrence Ferlinghetti, “I Am Waiting”

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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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Listen to an interview with Lawrence Ferlinghetti:

More info on Lawrence Ferlinghetti⇒

Duhamel, Denise 2003

Wednesday, February 12, 2003
with Kevin Young

In a few days,
someone comes to crack
our shells and reunite
us as a family.

– Denise Duhamel, “Wish You Were Here”

Broadside of “Wish You Were Here” by Denise Duhamel.

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The blue forest, chilled and blue, like the lips of the dead
if the lips were gone. The year has been cut in half
with dull scissors, the solstice still looking for its square
on the calendar…

– Denise Duhamel, “June”

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Watch Denise Duhamel read her work at Arizona State University:

More info on Denise Duhamel⇒

di Prima, Diane 2007

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

…O suck
the air w/ punctured lungs
& call it singing
I tell you grace is what the cannibal
names his dinner

– Diane di Prima, “Fuck You, John Calvin”

Broadside of “Fuck You, John Calvin” by Diane di Prima

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Watch Diane di Prima read poetry at the Mission Cultural Center in San Francisco:

Mission Cultural Center Celebrate Diane di Prima

No Description

you are my bread
and the hairline
noise
of my bones
you are almost
the sea

– Diane di Prima, “The Window”

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Audio recording of the Poetry Center Reading Series featuring Tom Raworth, Diane di Prima, Kimiko Hahn, Eugene Gloria, Patricia Smith, Luis Rodriguez, Robert Bly, Brian Turner, Bruce Weigl, Tyehimba Jess, A. Van Jordan, Arielle Greenberg, Billy Corgan, Franz Wright, Czeslaw Milosz, Louise Glück, and Alicia Ostriker.

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He has built altars beside my bed
I awake in the smell of his hair & cannot remember
his name, or my own.

– Diane di Prima, “An Exercise in Love”

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Vintage poster of Poetry in Motion: a film by Ron Mann with Amiri Baraka, Ted Berrigan, Charles Bukowski, William Burroughs, John Cage, Robert Creeley, Diane Di Prima, Kenward Elmslie, Allen Ginsberg, Michael McClure, Ed Sanders, Gary Snyder, Tom Waits, Anne Waldman at the Poetry Center of Chicago.

Vintage poster of Poetry in Motion: a film by Ron Mann with Amiri Baraka, Ted Berrigan, Charles Bukowski, William Burroughs, John Cage, Robert Creeley, Diane Di Prima, Kenward Elmslie, Allen Ginsberg, Michael McClure, Ed Sanders, Gary Snyder, Tom Waits, Anne Waldman at the Poetry Center of Chicago.

More info on Diane di Prima⇒

Cumpián, Carlos 2005; 2022

Monday, November 14, 2005
with Ana Castillo
Wednesday, November 16, 2022
Blue Hour Reading Series with Jennifer Scappettone and Carlos Cumpián
Haymarket House

Four women wearing less than
What’s wrapped in ribbon around
Their lances bounce freely alongside
13 elephants that line up, turn, mount,
And massage each other,

– Carlos Cumpián, “The Circus”

Broadside of “The Circus” by Carlos Cumpián

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Watch Carlos Cumpián’s 2022 reading with Jennifer Scappettone at the Poetry Center of Chicago:

Carlos Cumpián begins at 48:08 minutes.

Read this article about Carlos Cumpián from the Chicago Reader:

Spirit Guide – Chicago Reader

Carlos Cumpian on Poetry, Chicano Culture, and the Emergency Taco

Smokers huddle at a thousand doors,
withdrawing 12 minutes every day
from the new-world mirage,
no one inhales the same anymore,
as mosquito-mean bosses look for blood in
every dollar, expecting us to laugh to forget our stress.

– Carlos Cumpián, “Soon It’s Robots”

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Listen to Carlos Cumpián read “When Jesus Walked:”

More info on Carlos Cumpián⇒

Craig, Joel 2005; 2015

Wednesday, February 9, 2005
with Kristy Odelius and Srikanth Reddy
The American Poets Reading

Thursday, June 11, 2015
with Marty McConnell
Six Points Reading Series

Joel Craig reading for the Poetry Center of Chicago's Six Points Reading Series

Joel Craig reading for the Poetry Center of Chicago’s Six Points Reading Series

He was born as his name implies
as though distortion weren’t enough
in itself to frighten good, innocent people.

– Joel Craig, “Schema”

Broadside of “Schema” by Joel Craig

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Buy this broadside in a series with Kristy Odelius and Srikanth Reddy⇒

This war cannot be won.
The memory of the garden illusion caught me up
again in the turmoil, viewing my inner self
as an old person looking at distant scenery.

– Joel Craig, “Rational Rational”

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Listen to Joel Craig read some of his work:

Joel Craig reads 16 April at Avol’s Books

Joel Craig is the author of the chapbook Shine Tomorrow (Lost Horse, 2009); and poems forthcoming or lately in TYPO, A Public Space, MoonLit, The Zoland Annual, GutCult, Iowa Review, and others. He lives in Chicago, IL where he is the poetry editor for MAKE: A Literary Magazine, and where he co-founded and curates The Danny’s Reading Series at Danny’s Tavern.

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Corgan, Billy 2003

Wednesday, September 17, 2003

The river runs foul
from the gates where my father once stood
down to the apple trees
from mirror to the gutter
we run streaks of stardust

– Billy Corgan, “The River Runs Foul”

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Audio recording of the Poetry Center Reading Series featuring Tom Raworth, Diane di Prima, Kimiko Hahn, Eugene Gloria, Patricia Smith, Luis Rodriguez, Robert Bly, Brian Turner, Bruce Weigl, Tyehimba Jess, A. Van Jordan, Arielle Greenberg, Billy Corgan, Franz Wright, Czeslaw Milosz, Louise Glück, and Alicia Ostriker.

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A poem, if you will:
Gentle waves rise
just off the fingertips
All I breathe is mine

– Billy Corgan, “Blinking with Fists (and other caterpillar tales)”

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Watch this interview with Billy Corgan about his poetry from Fine Print:

Billy Corgan 2004-10-xx Interview

An interview conducted by Carolyn Weaver regarding the book and the poetry of “Blinking With Fists”. Exact recording and broadcasting dates are currently unknown. This appeared on the Book Television network on the programme Fine Print.

More info on Billy Corgan⇒

Collins, Billy 2001

Thursday, November 8, 2001

With a basin of warm water and a towel
I am shaving my father
late on a summer afternoon
as he sits in a chair in blue striped pajamas

– Billy Collins, “The Stare”

Broadside of “The Stare” by Billy Collins

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They say you can jinx a poem
if you talk about it before it is done.
If you let it out too early, they warn,
your poem will fly away,
and this time they are absolutely right.

– Billy Collins, “Madmen”

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Listen to Billy Collins’ 2001 Poetry Center reading:

One bright morning in a restaurant in Chicago
as I waited for my eggs and toast,
I opened the Tribune only to discover
that I was the same age as Cheerios.

– Billy Collins, “Cheerios”

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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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I thought about his death for so many hours,
tangled there in the wires of the night,
that it came to have a body and dimensions,
more than a voice shaking over the telephone
or the black obituary boldface of name and dates.

– Billy Collins, “The Wires of the Night”

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Watch Billy Collins’s TED Talk with animations of his poetry:

Billy Collins: Everyday moments, caught in time

Combining dry wit with artistic depth, Billy Collins shares a project in which several of his poems were turned into delightful animated films in a collaboration with Sundance Channel. Five of them are included in this wonderfully entertaining and moving talk — and don’t miss the hilarious final poem!

More info on Billy Collins⇒

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