1960s Audio Programs

The Poetry Center's 1960s collection represents the transition with the new decade from the era of founding director Ruth Witt-Diamant, with Robert Duncan her assistant, to the emergence of many younger poets destined to become prominent. Striking highlights are several symposia, e.g., James Baldwin on the role of the writer; memorials for Robert Frost, Theodore Roethke, and Robinson Jeffers; LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka) and friends on his groundbreaking new work Blues People; a raucous panel on "Poetry and Censorship" (photo here) focused on Lenore Kandel's The Love Book and Michael McClure’s (more)

Helen Adam: May 5, 1964

The Poetry Center presents Helen Adam reading from her poetry, and songs from her ballad opera San Francisco's...

Date: 05/05/1964

James Baldwin: October 22, 1960

The Poetry Center presents James Baldwin, speaking and in discussion with Philip Roth and John Cheever, the final event...

Date: 10/22/1960

Robin Blaser: March 9, 1967

The Poetry Center presents Robin Blaser, reading from his own poetry and the works of his late friend and fellow poet...

Date: 3/9/1967

Robert Bly: October 25, 1961

The Poetry Center presents Robert Bly, reading from his original poetry, subsequently published in his first book,...

Date: 10/25/1961

Buddhadeva Bose: April 6, 1965

The Poetry Center presents Bengali poet Buddhadeva Bose reading poetry in English translation from among other works his...

Date: 04/06/1965

Kay Boyle: April 1, 1964

The Poetry Center presents Kay Boyle, at the time on the San Francisco State University faculty in English, reading from...

Date: 04/01/1964

Richard Brautigan and Floyd Salas: February 28, 1968

The Poetry Center presents Richard Brautigan and Floyd Salas, reading from their own works.

Date: 02/28/1968

James Broughton: November 23, 1960

The Poetry Center presents James Broughton reading from his poetry and songs, with a performance by singer Anna Carol...

Date: 11/23/1960

James Broughton with Joel Andrews: March 2, 1965

The Poetry Center presents James Broughton reading his poems with Joel Andrews performing instrumental accompaniment on...

Date: 03/02/1965

Bill Brown and James Koller: October 18, 1967

The Poetry Center presents Bill Brown reading from his novel, The Way to the Uncle Sam Hotel and James Koller reading...

Date: 10/18/1967

Luis Cernuda: December 6, 1961

The Poetry Center presents Spanish poet Luis Cernuda reading a selection of his poems in the original Spanish; a speaker...

Date: 12/06/1961

Eldridge Cleaver, Speaker's Platform: October 9, 1968

Shortly following the 1968 release of his book Soul on Ice , and during a time of civil unrest and riots in more than...

Date: 10/09/1968

Henri Coulette and Ruth Weiss: April 19, 1960

The Poetry Center presents Henri Coulette reading early excerpts from The War of the Secret Agents, The Attic, and other...

Date: 04/19/1960

Robert Creeley: March 16, 1966

The Poetry Center presents Robert Creeley reading poems from his book Words, as well as a long prose piece titled The...

Date: 03/16/1966

Guy Davis, Shirley Kaufman, and Daniel Moore: October 22, 1963

The Poetry Center presents Guy Davis, Shirley Kaufman and Daniel Moore reading their poetry, in the Poetry Center's...

Date: 10/22/1963

Diane di Prima: April 24, 1968

The Poetry Center presents Diane di Prima, accompanied by musician John Braden, reading from plays and poems.

Date: 04/24/1968

Richard Eberhart: March 17, 1960

The Poetry Center presents Richard Eberhart reading his poetry.

Date: 03/17/1960

Clayton Eshleman, Robert Kelly, and Paul Blackburn: April 11, 1969

The Poetry Center presents Clayton Eshleman, Robert Kelly, and Paul Blackburn reading from their works.

Date: 04/11/1969

Lawrence Ferlinghetti: October 4, 1961

The Poetry Center presents Lawrence Ferlinghetti reading from his selected works.

Date: 10/04/1961

Kathleen Fraser and Jack Marshall: April 29, 1968

The Poetry Center presents Kathleen Fraser and Jack Marshall reading their poems.

Date: 04/29/1968

Robert Frost Memorial Lecture: October 28, 1964

The Poetry Center and San Francisco Public Library present Richard Eberhart delivering a memorial lecture on Robert Frost...

Date: 10/28/1964

Jack Gilbert: September 25, 1962

The Poetry Center presents Jack Gilbert reading from Views of Jeopardy among other poems.

Date: 09/25/1962

Allen Ginsberg and Herbert Huncke: February 7, 1967

The Poetry Center presents Allen Ginsberg and Herbert Huncke reading from their works.

Date: 02/07/1967

Paul Goodman: April 27, 1966

Paul Goodman reads a selection of his poems

Date: 04/27/1966

John Haines: April 10, 1967

John Haines reads a selection of his poetry including poems from his book Winter News .

Date: 04/10/1967

Michael Hamburger: February 15, 1967

Michael Hamburger reads original poems and his translations of German poets.

Date: 02/15/1967

Michael S. Harper: December 3, 1969

Michael S. Harper reads poetry from his first book Dear John, Dear Coltrane among other work.

Date: 12/03/1969

LeRoi Jones, A Jazz Symposium on Blues People: March 4, 1965

The Poetry Center presents a Jazz Symposium on Blues People, featuring LeRoi Jones (a.k.a. Amiri Baraka), Philip Elwood,...

Date: 03/04/1965

John Hawkes, Herbert Kubly, Wright Morris: March 12, 1965

The Poetry Center, in association with the Contemporary Arts Festival, presents novelists John Hawkes, Herbert Kubly, and...

Date: 03/12/1965

LeRoi Jones: March 4, 1965

The Poetry Center presents LeRoi Jones (a.k.a. Amiri Baraka) reading poems from The Dead Lecturer , Sabotage , Target...

Date: 03/04/1965

Galway Kinnell: November 15, 1965

The Poetry Center presents Galway Kinnell reading various works by other poets and selections from his second book,...

Date: 11/15/1965

Carolyn Kizer: February 27, 1967

The Poetry Center presents Carolyn Kizer reading other poets' works as well as her own poems and Classical Chinese...

Date: 02/27/1967

Joanne Kyger and David Meltzer: October 23, 1968

The Poetry Center presents Joanne Kyger and David Meltzer reading their poems.

Date: October 23, 1968

Philip Levine: February 20, 1962

Philip Levine reads poems from his book, On the Edge

Date: 02/20/1962

Mark Linenthal: May 30, 1965

Mark Linenthal, co-director of The Poetry Center, presents a lecture on trends and directions in contemporary American...

Date: 05/30/1965

Lynn Lonidier and Bill Deemer: October 19, 1965

The Poetry Center presents Lynn Lonidier and Bill Deemer reading from their works.

Date: 10/19/1965

Robert Lowell: May 10, 1966

The Poetry Center presents Robert Lowell reading from Life Studies and For The Union Dead . Lowell opens his reading...

Date: 05/10/1966

Thanasis Maskaleris and Nanos Valaoritis: May 23, 1969

The Poetry Center presents Nanos Valaoritis reading from his poetry in English and Thanasis Maskaleris reading a...

Date: 05/23/1969

Michael McClure: May 13, 1969

The Poetry Center presents Michael McClure reading from a series of poems based in childhood memory followed by excerpts...

Date: 05/13/1969

W. S. Merwin: April 26, 1961

The Poetry Center presents W. S. Merwin reading from his collection The Drunk in the Furnace and unpublished poems.

Date: 04/26/1961

George Oppen: February 21, 1968

The Poetry Center presents George Oppen reading two major sequences from his 1968 book Of Being Numerous , for which he...

Date: 02/21/1968

George Oppen: October 29, 1969

The Poetry Center presents a return reading (following his early 1968 Poetry Center reading) by George Oppen, in honor of...

Date: 10/29/1969

Poetry and Censorship: November 23, 1966

This panel was convened by SFSU faculty in response to two events that took place in San Francisco in 1966: a police...

Date: 11/23/1966

Paul Ramsey and Ron Loewinsohn: March 3, 1964

The Poetry Center presents Paul Ramsey and Ron Loewinsohn reading from their selected works.

Date: 03/03/1964

Margaret Randall and Sergio Mondragon: December 15, 1966

The Poetry Center presents Margaret Randall and Sergio Mondragon reading their work. George Hitchcock reads the English...

Date: 12/15/1966

John Crowe Ransom: May 1, 1963

The Poetry Center Presents John Crowe Ransom reading a selection of poems

Date: 05/01/1963

Kenneth Rexroth: February 23, 1965

The Poetry Center presents Kenneth Rexroth, reading translations as well his own selected works.

Date: 2/23/1965

Charles Reznikoff and George Oppen: February 19, 1963

The Poetry Center presents Charles Reznikoff and George Oppen in an early reading from their respective books, By the...

Date: 02/19/1963

Robinson Jeffers Memorial Program: December 4, 1962

The Poetry Center presents a two-part program dedicated to Robinson Jeffers (1887-1962). In part one, actor Joseph Miksak...

Date: 12/04/1962

Delmore Schwartz: March 7, 1961

The Poetry Center presents a reading by Delmore Schwartz.

Date: 3/07/1961

Gary Snyder: November 29, 1964

The Poetry Center presents Gary Snyder reading translations of Kenji Miyazawa and his own work, mostly unpublished at the...

Date: 11/29/1964

Gary Snyder: December 10, 1969

The Poetry Center presents Gary Snyder reading from his translations of Japanese and Chinese Poetry, as well as...

Date: 12/10/1969

William Stafford: November 29, 1967

The Poetry Center presents William Stafford reading from his works.

Date: 11/29/1967

George Stanley: October 25, 1967

The Poetry Center presents George Stanley reading from his poetry.

Date: 10/25/1967

James Tate: March 6, 1968

The Poetry Center presents James Tate reading from The Lost Pilot and other works

Date: 03/06/1968

Charles Tomlinson: May 14, 1963

Charles Tomlinson reads from selected works including poems from Seeing Is Believing and A Peopled Landscape.

Date: 05/14/1963

Gael Turnbull: April 12, 1961

The Poetry Center presents Gael Turnbull reading from his selected works.

Date: 4/12/1961

Laura Ulewicz and Robert Sward: September 28, 1965

The Poetry Center presents Laura Ulewicz accompanied by Hillary Fowler; and Robert Sward.

Date: 9/28/1965

Diane Wakoski: May 9, 1969

The Poetry Center presents Diane Wakoski reading from The George Washington Poems, The Magellanic Clouds , and The...

Date: 05/09/1969

Philip Whalen: September 14, 1965

Philip Whalen reading from his poetry.

Date: 9/14/1965

Philip Whalen: March 11, 1968

The Poetry Center presents Philip Whalen reading from selected works.

Date: 03/11/1968

James Wright: April 26, 1965

The Poetry Center presents James Wright sharing his favorite poetry and reading from The Branch Will Not Break .

Date: 04/26/1965

James Wright: April 17, 1968

The Poetry Center presents James Wright, reading poems from his collections The Branch Will Not Break and Shall We...

Date: 04/17/1968

Nobuyuki Yuasa: November 15, 1966

The Poetry Center presents renowned Japanese scholar-translator Nobuyuki Yuasa talking on Basho and the haiku tradition,...

Date: 11/15/1966