Archive / C…

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

Buy this broadside⇒

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”

Continue reading this poem⇒

Listen to Carlos Cumpián read “When Jesus Walked:”

More info on Carlos Cumpián⇒

Creeley, Robert 1979; 1983; 1985

Friday, January 26, 1979
Sunday, September 25, 1983
Friday, October 18, 1985

Vintage poster of Robert Creeley’s reading at the Poetry Center of Chicago.

It is a viscous form of self-
propulsion that lets the feet grip
the floor as the head
lifts to the door,

– Robert Creeley, “Going To Bed”

Continue reading this poem⇒

Listen to Robert Creeley’s 2000 Poetry Center reading:

There is love only
as love is. These
sense recreate
their definition–a hand

– Robert Creeley, “Variations”

Continue reading this poem⇒

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.

The man sits in a timelessness
with the horse under him in time
to a movement of legs and hooves
upon a timeless sand.

– Robert Creeley, “The Rescue”

Continue reading this poem⇒

Watch Robert Creeley read his poem, “When I Think:”

When I Think by Robert Creeley

to hear more, go to: http://www.writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Creeley.php Robert Creeley reads at CUE Art Foundation on January 18, 2005.

More info on Robert Creeley⇒

Crichton, Michael 1999

Tuesday, May 11, 1999

He had a term for people like this: temporal provincials – people who were ignorant of the past, and proud of it.

– Michael Crichton, Timeline

Continue reading this book⇒

Listen to Michael Crichton and others on his early writing career:

More info on Michael Crichton⇒

Crawford, Romi 2013

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Watch Romi Crawford and others discuss the “I Can’t Breathe” ARC Gallery exhibition:

No Title

Curators Romi Crawford, PhD and Mary Patten discuss “I Can’t Breathe”, an ARC Gallery exhibition that explores police violence against unarmed citizens. This program was recorded by Chicago Access Network Television (CAN TV).

Romi Crawford in a panel on motherhood and feminism, as relating to her artistic work:

PART 1 – A Conversation About Motherhood & Feminism

No Description

More info on Romi Crawford⇒

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

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

Buy this broadside⇒

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”

Continue reading this poem⇒

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.

More info on Joel Craig⇒

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”

Continue reading this poem⇒

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.

Buy this audio recording featuring Billy Corgan⇒

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)”

Continue reading this poem⇒

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

Buy this broadside⇒

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”

Continue reading this poem⇒

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”

Continue reading this poem⇒

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.

Buy this audio recording featuring Billy Collins⇒

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”

Continue reading this poem⇒

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⇒

Coetzee, J. M. 1998

Thursday, December 3, 1998

It seemed to him, coming from his island, where until Friday arrived he lived a silent life, that there was too much speech in the world. In bed beside his wife he felt as if a shower of pebbles were being poured upon his head, in an unending rustle and clatter, when all he desired was to sleep.

– J. M. Coetzee, “He and his man” Nobel lecture

Continue reading J. M. Coetzee’s Nobel lecture⇒

Listen to J.M Coetzee’s 1998 Poetry Center reading: