John Hollander Reads From His Own Works (1965) DL 9143

Walt Whitman: PBS American Experience (2008)

 

"I am the poet of the body and I am the poet of the soul. I go with the slaves of the earth equally with the masters. And I will stand between the master and the slaves, entering into both so that both will understand me alike." — Walt Whitman He is today one of the most-recognized figures in American literary history: poet, patriot and faithful advocate of democracy. His name graces shopping malls, highway rest stops, and local high schools. He has adherents around the globe. But in his own time, critics denounced Walt Whitman as a "lunatic raving in pitiable delirium." They pronounced his signature book of poetry, Leaves of Grass, "slimy," "vile," and "beastly." One reviewer wished to see him whipped in public; another suggested he commit suicide. He was famously "banned in Boston." Even by his own measure, Walt Whitman failed in so many ways in his own lifetime: failed in his attempt to reach a vast audience of ordinary men and women; failed to achieve the laurels he craved; and most painfully, failed to talk the nation out of an impending civil war. American Experience presents Walt Whitman, a two-hour documentary from acclaimed filmmaker Mark Zwonitzer (Jesse James, The Massie Affair), featuring Academy Award-winning actor Chris Cooper (Seabiscuit, Adaptation) as the voice of America's first great poet. Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa, novelist Allan Gurganus, poet and essayist Martin Espada, and former Poet Laureate Billy Collins appear to recite some of Whitman's most important works, and reflect upon his enduring influence. Actor J.K. Simmons (Juno, The Closer) narrates. This American Experience tells Whitman's life story, from his working class childhood in Long Island, to his years as a newspaper reporter in Brooklyn when he struggled to support his impoverished family, then to his reckless pursuit of the attention and affection he craved for his work, to his death in 1892.

Tracing the life of the transformative American poet, this documentary explores the personal challenges and societal shifts that shaped a

D. H. Lawrence Documentary

 

David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer and poet. His collected works represent, among other things, an extended reflection upon the dehumanizing effects of modernity and industrialization. Lawrence's writing explores issues such as sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity, and instinct. His novels include Sons and Lovers, The Rainbow, Women in Love, and Lady Chatterley's Lover. Lawrence's opinions earned him many enemies and he endured official persecution, censorship, and misrepresentation of his creative work throughout the second half of his life, much of which he spent in a voluntary exile he called his "savage pilgrimage". At the time of his death, his public reputation was that of a pornographer who had wasted his considerable talents. E. M. Forster, in an obituary notice, challenged this widely held view, describing him as "the greatest imaginative novelist of our generation." Later, the literary critic F. R. Leavis championed both his artistic integrity and his moral seriousness. D. H. Lawrence documentary DH Lawrence documentary 1984

Anthony Burgess explores the life and work of D. H. Lawrence, analyzing how the author's formative years in an industrial Nottinghamshire

T S Eliot reading his 'Four Quartets' (1947)

 

Recorded by Eliot for HMV, these 78 rpm discs were released in September 1947. While working on his play Murder in the Cathedral, Eliot came up with the idea for a poem that was structured similarly to The Waste Land. The resulting poem, Burnt Norton, named after a manor house, was published in Eliot's 1936 edition of Collected Poems 1909–1935. Eliot decided to create another poem similar to Burnt Norton but with a different location in mind. This second poem, East Coker, was finished and published by Easter 1940. (Eliot visited East Coker in 1937 and his ashes now repose there at St. Michael's Church.) As Eliot was finishing his second poem, World War II began to disrupt his life and he spent more time lecturing across Great Britain and helping out during the war when he could. It was during this time that Eliot began working on The Dry Salvages, the third poem, which was put together near the end of 1940. This poem was published in February 1941 and Eliot immediately began to plot out his fourth poem, Little Gidding. Eliot's health declined and he stayed in Shamley Green to recuperate. His illness and the war disrupted his ability to write and he became dissatisfied with each draft. He believed that the problem with the poem was with himself and that he had started the poem too soon and written it too quickly. By September 1941, he stopped writing and focused on his lecturing. It was not until September 1942 that Eliot finished the last poem and it was finally published. While writing East Coker Eliot thought of creating a "quartet" of poems that would reflect the idea of the four elements and, loosely, the four seasons. As the first four parts of The Waste Land have each been associated with one of the four classical elements so has each of the constituent poems of Four Quartets: air (BN,) earth (EC,) water (DS,) and fire (LG.) However, there is little support for the poems matching with individual seasons. Eliot described what he meant by "quartet" in a 3 September 1942 letter to John Hayward: ... these poems are all in a particular set form which I have elaborated, and the word "quartet" does seem to me to start people on the right track for understanding them ("sonata" in any case is too musical). It suggests to me the notion of making a poem by weaving in together three or four superficially unrelated themes: the "poem" being the degree of success in making a new whole out of them. The four poems comprising Four Quartets were first published together as a collection in New York in 1943 and then London in 1944.

TS Eliot delivers a reading of their renowned poetic sequence, Four Quartets. This recording offers a unique opportunity to hear the author

T.S. Eliot Reads From his Work (1950)

 

On December 4, 1950, two years after winning the Nobel Prize in Literature, T.S. Eliot stood behind a lectern in the Kaufmann Concert Hall at the 92nd Street Y and read some of his best work in front of hundreds of people. Now the whole world can relive that moment: The 92nd Street Y has unearthed a never-before-heard recording ahead of a listening event on Monday night at 7:30 p.m. celebrating the Unterberg Poetry Center’s 80th anniversary. Eliot had recorded several poems before his death in 1965. But on that winter night, before delving into titles including “Preludes” and “La Figlia che Piange,” he delivered a preamble on his craft, often rousing the crowd to laughter. The clips below convey a more relaxed side to the modernist poet, one that’s thoughtful, humorous and self-effacing. When explaining why he always reads in chronological order (because an author “tends to like what he’s written most recently and therefore reads it best”), he admits that he’s “embarrassed” by his enduring, first published poem, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” At one moment, he cautioned: “I want to impress upon you that I realize that nothing that I say in this way, and nothing that I’m saying at the moment, is of a slightest importance. At least, it is a matter of no importance whether anything I say is of importance or not.” He goes on to say that he has reached the point where, in selecting poems for live readings, he chooses works that he likes rather than those others may want to hear. But he prefers to leave their meanings up for interpretation. He also discusses “the good deal of trouble” that went into some of his recorded work. “One of the things he notes in the introduction about the experience of being in the recording studio is wanting to get it perfect,” said Bernard Schwartz, the director of the poetry center. But, he adds, “If you’re in a recording studio and you screw up, you can do another take — unless it’s post-World War II London and electricity is in short supply, which is something he also talks about.” Noting that many of his recordings are available to the public, Eliot wonders why anyone would leave the comfort of their home to hear him speak in person. Here, he offers advice for fellow poets and says that remarks between poems at live readings help both the reader and listener relax. For instance, during the event, he introduced each poem by placing it in a period of time or style in his career. “This is a collection of voices that were captured and properly preserved, in some cases, over many, many decades,” Mr. Schwartz said. “When you hear them, the experience is as if you were there.”

Louise Glück: Poetry Reading (1977)

 

Introduction (Douglas Bryant and Stratis Haviaras) The Racer's Widow Cottonmouth Country Messengers Nativity Poem Pomegranate The Blind Girl The Garden: The Fear of Birth The Garden: The Garden The Garden: The Fear of Love The Garden: Origins The Garden: The Fear of Burial The Logos The Mirror The Dream of Mourning Nocturne Rosy The Drowned Children For John Descending Figure: The Wanderer Descending Figure: The Sick Child Descending Figure: For My Sister Descending Figure: The Clearing

Joseph Brodsky Poetry Reading (1980)

 

Introduction (Stratis Haviaras) Six Years Later (read in English) Six Years Later (read in Russian) Nature Morte (read in English) Nature Morte (read in Russian) Odysseus to Telemachus (read in English) Odysseus to Telemachus (read in Russian) The Tams at Chelsea (read in English) A Part of Speech [excerpt 1] (read in English) A Part of Speech [excerpt 1] (read in Russian) A Part of Speech [excerpt 2] (read in English) A Part of Speech [excerpt 2] (read in Russian) A Part of Speech [excerpt 3] (read in English) A Part of Speech [excerpt 3] (read in Russian) A Part of Speech [excerpt 4] (read in English) A Part of Speech [excerpt 4] (read in Russian) A Part of Speech [excerpt 5] (read in English) A Part of Speech [excerpt 5] (read in Russian) A Part of Speech [excerpt 6] (read in English) A Part of Speech [excerpt 6] (read in Russian) A Part of Speech [excerpt 7] (read in English) A Part of Speech [excerpt 7] (read in Russian) York: In Memoriam W.H. Auden (read in English) York: In Memoriam W.H. Auden (read in Russian) Plato Elaborated: Section 1 (read in English) Plato Elaborated: Section 1 (read in Russian) Letters from the Ming Dynasty (read in English) Letters from the Ming Dynasty (read in Russian) Elegy for Robert Lowell (read in English) Q&A Session

Yves Bonnefoy Poetry Reading (1973

 

Theatre (read in English) Dans le leurre du seuil (The Lure of the Threshold) Théâtre (read in French by Yves Bonnefoy)

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Louise Glück Poetry Reading (1994)

 

Introduction (Stratis Haviaras) Cottonmouth Country For My Mother The Garden Mock Orange Metamorphosis Legend Celestial Music Matins (“Unreachable father, when we were first”) Trillium Field Flowers The Red Poppy Matins (“Not the sun merely but the earth”) Vespers (“In your extended absence, you permit me”) Vespers (“You thought we didn't know. But we knew once,”) The White Rose Retreating Light Vespers (“Your voice is gone now; I hardly hear you.”) The Silver Lily The Gold Lily The White Lilies

Elizabeth Bishop and James Ingram Merrill Read their Poems (1974)

 

Bishop reads three poems from her collection Poems: North & South--a cold spring; three poems from The complete poems, and three uncollected poems. Merrill reads three poems from Braving the elements and the poem, Verse for Urania.

Robert Hayden at the Brockport Writers Forum

 

Robert Hayden reads "Those Winter Sundays" and discusses W.B. Yeats, accusations of "literary Uncle Tomism," the Bahá’í faith, and Frederick Douglass. This is an edited version of an hour-long interview conducted in Brockport, NY on March 3, 1975. The full video, with many others, is available in our archive: https://dspace.sunyconnect.suny.edu/b...

Aldous Huxley on the Ultimate Revolution (1962)

 

Audio recording of a 1962 lecture by Aldous Huxley at UC Berkeley. He discusses some of the themes of his famous work Brave New World regarding authoritarian state control and the various methods of psychological manipulation.

The Epic of Gilgamesh | Full Reading | Human Voiced, No Ads

 

Embark on a journey through ancient Mesopotamian literature with "The Epic of Gilgamesh," one of the earliest known pieces of literary work. Join us as we explore this profound narrative that delves into the themes of heroism, friendship, the quest for eternal life, and the human condition. Discover the adventures of Gilgamesh, the legendary king of Uruk, and his companion Enkidu, as they navigate the complexities of life and the inevitability of death. 📜 Set sail into the world of ancient Sumer, around the third millennium BCE, where Gilgamesh, part god and part man, reigns as the powerful but tyrannical king of Uruk. Witness his early exploits and the creation of Enkidu, a wild man crafted by the gods to challenge Gilgamesh’s arrogance and temper his excesses. 👬 Venture into the deep bond formed between Gilgamesh and Enkidu as they undertake perilous adventures together. Experience their heroic battle against the monstrous Humbaba, the guardian of the Cedar Forest, and their defiance of the gods by slaying the Heavenly Bull sent to punish them. These tales not only entertain but also explore themes of friendship, loyalty, and the transformative power of companionship. 💔 Journey through the heartbreak of Enkidu’s death, a pivotal event that plunges Gilgamesh into profound grief and sets him on a quest for immortality. Delve into his existential crisis as he confronts the reality of his own mortality, leading him to seek out Utnapishtim, the survivor of the Great Flood and the only human to be granted eternal life by the gods. 🌊 Witness Gilgamesh’s arduous journey to the edge of the world and his eventual meeting with Utnapishtim, who recounts the story of the Flood and tests Gilgamesh’s worthiness of immortality. Explore the lessons Gilgamesh learns about the inevitability of death and the importance of accepting one's human limitations. 🌿 Reflect on the return of Gilgamesh to Uruk, where he comes to terms with his mortality and embraces his role as a wise and just ruler. His epic journey concludes with a newfound understanding that his true legacy lies in the enduring accomplishments of his civilization—the walls of Uruk—and the stories that will survive him. 🌟 Join us on this enlightening odyssey through "The Epic of Gilgamesh," where ancient myths and philosophical inquiries into life and death converge to form a narrative that resonates across millennia. Subscribe now to embark on this epic journey and experience one of the foundational stories of world literature, reflecting the early human insights that continue to intrigue scholars and readers today. #gilgamesh #ancientliterature #mesopotamia #epicpoetry #asmr #history #fallasleep #fallasleepfast #asmrhistory #ancientcivilizations

Franz Kafka: The Man Who Begged to Be Forgotten

 

Franz Kafka was a writer unlike any other. His stories of strange trials, endless bureaucracy, and surreal transformations captured the anxiety of the modern world long before it fully arrived.

In this documentary, we explore the life and mind of one of literature’s most mysterious figures. From The Metamorphosis to The Trial, Kafka created a new kind of storytelling that still defines the word “Kafkaesque” today.

This is the story of Franz Kafka — the writer who turned modern fear into literature.

Explore the life of Franz Kafka within the complex cultural landscape of turn-of-the-century Prague. The Historian examines how familial tensions, institutional pressures, and a search for meaning shaped the consciousness of this influential author.

Christopher Marlowe - The Elizabethan 007 I FULL Biography Documentary

 

Christopher Marlowe was the most dangerous playwright in England.

A genius who rewrote the rules of theatre… and was silenced before the world could stop watching.

Christopher Marlowe was not just a writer — he was the man Shakespeare learned from. A brilliant, reckless scholar turned secret agent whose double life of espionage, blasphemy, and forbidden ideas shocked Elizabethan England and nearly got him hanged before it got him killed. From a shoemaker's son who talked his way into Cambridge, to a Privy Council letter that hinted at secret missions for the Crown, from the explosive success of Tamburlaine and Doctor Faustus to accusations of atheism, heresy, and treason, this documentary explores the real life of Christopher Marlowe — one of history's most brilliant and mysterious literary figures.

This is the true story of Christopher Marlowe.

Mark Twain - The Eternal Optimist? Biographical Documentary

 

One of the best loved writers of all time, Mark Twain, had a tough childhood in rural Missouri and had to leave school at the age of 12 after his father died. He worked as a printer and then a Mississippi steamboat pilot before heading out west to try his luck as a silver miner in Nevada, where he found his true vocation as a writer.

His colourful descriptions of a new and evolving nation and the rollicking tales of his travels around the globe are full of his irrepressible humour, but late in life his optimism deserted him when he faced financial ruin and lost his wife and two of his daughters. His writing turned darker, and he developed a strange fascination with teenage girls.

In this expanded biographical documentary about one of America’s most beguiling characters, Prof Yorston explores whether Mark Twain, the eternal optimist, became a bitter and twisted old man as some have suggested, or retained the cheery, light-hearted persona that produced the books that have entertained and enchanted millions for over 150 years.

Did he remain the witty humourist to the end did he feel his life had simply dragged on too long?

F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Forgotten Genius I FULL Biography Documentary

 

F. Scott Fitzgerald was the voice of a generation that didn't deserve him.

A man who captured the glamour of the Jazz Age in prose so beautiful it made the world ache — and then watched everything he loved turn to ash.

Fitzgerald was not just a writer — he was the American Dream in human form. The boy from Minnesota who clawed his way into Princeton, conquered New York, and made the world fall in love with a fictional millionaire named Gatsby, while quietly drinking himself to death in the shadows of his own legend.

From his desperate pursuit of Zelda Sayre to the overnight glory of This Side of Paradise, from the masterpiece of The Great Gatsby to the humiliation of Hollywood, from mental institutions to forgotten graves — this is the full, devastating story of the man who invented the American Dream and paid for it with everything he had.

This is the true story of F. Scott Fitzgerald. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ In this documentary: The Minnesota boy who wanted to conquer the world Princeton, ambition and the birth of a writer Zelda Sayre and the obsession that defined his life This Side of Paradise and overnight fame The Great Gatsby and the green light The Jazz Age excess and the money that disappeared Zelda's breakdown and the asylum years Tender is the Night and critical failure The Hollywood years and slow collapse Death at 44 — broke, forgotten and alone

David Foster Wallace on Bookworm (1996-2006)

 

From KCRW's Bookworm. Interviewer: Michael Silverblatt. 00:00 On Infinite Jest (April 11, 1996). 28:54 On A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again (May 15, 1997) 57:26 On Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (Aug 12, 1999). 01:26:05 On the Phone (Aug 3, 2000). 01:54:45 On Consider the Lobster (Mar 2, 2006).

Author David Foster Wallace discusses the structural influences behind the novel Infinite Jest, comparing its complexity to fractals rather than traditional linear narratives. The conversation explores the artistic motivation to connect with readers and address contemporary loneliness through fiction.

Robert Creeley Poet - Part 1

 

Robert Creeley 1926—2005

Robert Creeley, like Robert Duncan, was involved with Black Mountain College, the New American Poetry, and the Beat movement. He was an iconoclastic and modest person who, at some personal cost to overcome his lack of ease in public, nevertheless made himself available to many scholars and students who sought to understand the social and cultural upheavals of the latter half of the 20thy Century. He lived a somewhat nomadic literary life but settled for long periods in certain places—luckily, during the 1970s in Bolinas, California a legendary bohemian village on the Pacific Coast north of San Francisco. When he came to class, he was interested in helping with the goals, or as he put it, “preoccupations” of the class and to that end, he read from prose accounts of earlier, iconic times in the Bay Area including a rollicking party with Jack Kerouac and others at The Dharma Bums house in Mill Valley. In stark contrast to Robert Duncan’s expansive and all inclusive poems, Creeley’s tend to be compact, concise, compressed snapshots of things. At their best, they capture the essence of a moment of perception—as Kerouac put it, explaining his coined phrase, “The Naked Lunch,”—“that frozen moment when everyone sees what’s on the end of the fork.”

Robert Creeley - Part 2

 

Robert Creeley 1926—2005

Robert Creeley, like Robert Duncan, was involved with Black Mountain College, the New American Poetry, and the Beat movement. He was an iconoclastic and modest person who, at some personal cost to overcome his lack of ease in public, nevertheless made himself available to many scholars and students who sought to understand the social and cultural upheavals of the latter half of the 20thy Century. He lived a somewhat nomadic literary life but settled for long periods in certain places—luckily, during the 1970s in Bolinas, California a legendary bohemian village on the Pacific Coast north of San Francisco. When he came to class, he was interested in helping with the goals, or as he put it, “preoccupations” of the class and to that end, he read from prose accounts of earlier, iconic times in the Bay Area including a rollicking party with Jack Kerouac and others at The Dharma Bums house in Mill Valley. In stark contrast to Robert Duncan’s expansive and all inclusive poems, Creeley’s tend to be compact, concise, compressed snapshots of things. At their best, they capture the essence of a moment of perception—as Kerouac put it, explaining his coined phrase, “The Naked Lunch,”—“that frozen moment when everyone sees what’s on the end of the fork.”

Dylan Thomas reads his poem Fern Hill

ROBERT BLY: A Thousand Years of Joy (2015)

 

Bly was arguably the leading champion of poetry for the last half century. His boundless curiosity and belief that poetry matters in the life of the nation has often put him on the front lines of cultural and political debate. The bestselling author of Iron John, and winner of numerous awards for his own poetry, Bly also introduced the work of Rumi, Hafez, Neruda, Lorca, Mirabai and others to English speakers for the first time. Featuring John Densmore, Louise Erdrich, Martin Shaw, Gary Snyder, Gioia Timpanelli, Donald Hall, Jane Hirshfield, Mark Rylance, Tracy K. Smith, Martin Sheen, and others. Emmy-award winner. Broadcasted on PBS and a festival favorite. Produced and Directed by Haydn Reiss

Francis Webb Reads from his Collected Poems

 

A compilation of 10 poems read by legendary Australian poet Francis Webb (1925 - 73), recorded in the early 1970s by the National Library and University of Queensland Press and reproduced, with permission, in digital format for the first time with accompanying text. Poet and Webb scholar Dr Toby Davidson from Macquarie University provides a brief foreword and background notes at the end.

Alice Walker - interviewed by Henry Lyman for Poems to a Listener (1984 series)

 

Alice Walker, reading from Good Night, Willie Lee and other collections, gives us poems about her childhood in rural Georgia, her travels in Africa, and her involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. She describes her baptism in a local creek: “It was just such an interesting thing to go down to the creek beautifully dressed in white, with all the other people dressed in white, and be held by the people of the community.”

Denise Levertov - interviewed by Henry Lyman for Poems to a Listener (1984 series)

 

Reading from Candles in Babylon, Denise Levertov discusses the threat of nuclear war and its psychological effect on adults and on children: “I’ve heard of a child, who, when asked what he was going to do when he grew up, said, ‘But I’m not going to grow up.’”

Seamus Heaney - interviewed by Henry Lyman for Poems to a Listener (1983 series), Part Two

 

In this continued reading and conversation Heaney talks about the political tensions between Protestants and Catholics, as well as the more friendly relations he observed in the countryside: “The individual Protestant farmer in your own district was your neighbor, rather than your enemy.”

Seamus Heaney - interviewed by Henry Lyman for Poems to a Listener (1983 series), Part One

 

Reading from Poems 1965-1975 and Field Work, Seamus Heaney, recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize for Literature, speaks of the landscape of Northern Ireland, the farm where he grew up, and the workers and craftsmen of the neighborhood: “The poet has to be a voice-box for something that is in the land and in the people.”

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Seamus Heaney speaking about Gaelic and the Irish landscape

 

3 Poems by Strider Marcus Jones ON BBC RADIO LANCASHIRE -Upload with Joel Mitchell on 12/03/2026

 

A Life in Study: Robert Lowell

 

Strider Marcus Jones Poet - Lothlorien: SEAMUS HEANEY - R.I.P. New Poem by Strider Marcus ...

Strider Marcus Jones Poet - Lothlorien: SEAMUS HEANEY - R.I.P. New Poem by Strider Marcus ...: SEAMUS HEANEY even his hair and clothes were poetic- the strands and fibres blowing and smelling phrasing words digging up r...

5 Poems by Diane Di Prima

 

5 Poems by Gary Snyder

 

5 Poems by Dudley Randall

 

5 POEMS BY STANLEY KUNITZ

 

5 Poems by Robin Blaser

 

5 Poems by Madeline Gleason

 

5 poems by James Laughlin

 

Audre Lorde reads Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic As Power (FULL Updated)

 

5 poems by Audre Lorde

 

5 Poems by Gregory Corso

 

5 Poems by Jack Spicer

 

5 Poems by Ted Berrigan

 

5 Poems by Etheridge Knight

 

5 poems by Gwendolyn Brooks

 

R.S. Thomas in 1995

Tom Waits Concert and Interview - 1973 09 21 KPFK Folk Scene Broadcast v...

Tom Waits 1983 Swordfishtrombone Interview

NYSL: Susan Cheever, E.E. Cummings: A Life

Ezra Pound interview for BBC 1959