Poetry Center Archive Goes Live!

Historic video recordings (with downloadable audio) plus a few audio-original recordings, documenting the Poetry Center Reading Series. We'll post rare video from the 1970s and 1980s, thanks to digital transfers by the Bay Area Video Coalition and its Preservation Access Program. Newly-posted audio: a rediscovered 1954 lecture by W. H. Auden and a repaired 1959 reading by Allen Ginsberg of his "Kaddish" and other poems — one of our most popular recordings. Check here as more new recordings from the historic collection get added.The Poetry Center Archive Goes (more)

Lucia Berlin and Douglas Woolf: February 24, 1984

The Poetry Center presents Lucia Berlin and Douglas Woolf, each reading from their work, with introductions by...

Date: 1984-02-24

Q. R. Hand Jr., Genny Lim, and Juan Felipe Herrera: February 24, 1983

The Poetry Center presents poets Q. R. Hand Jr., Genny Lim, and Juan Felipe Herrera, presenting their poetry at...

Date: 1983-02-24

Karen Brodine and Meridel Le Sueur: November 5, 1981

The Poetry Center presents poet-activists Karen Brodine and Meridel Le Sueur. Brodine reads poems from her then-newly...

Date: 1981-11-05

Margaret Atwood: May 3, 1978

The Poetry Center presents Margaret Atwood, in her first Bay Area appearance, visiting San Francisco State from...

Date: 1978-05-03

"Tempest in a Teapot" Asian American Poets Reading—with Jeffery Paul Chan and Al Robles, Lou Syquia, George Leong, Lane Nishikawa, Janice Mirikitani, Alan Chong Lau, Laureen Mar, Garrett Hongo: May 16, 1977

The Poetry Center presents this landmark 1977 recording of a group reading by eight West Coast Asian American and Asian...

Date: 1977-05-16

Lorenzo Thomas and David Henderson with Ghetto Violence: March 19, 1976

The Poetry Center presents Lorenzo Thomas and David Henderson, the latter performing with the band Ghetto Violence,...

Date: 1976-03-19

Simon J. Ortiz: November 19, 1975

The Poetry Center presents Simon J. Ortiz, in this early reading of his work at San Francisco State University. Ortiz...

Date: 1975-11-19

Jessica Hagedorn and the West Coast Gangster Choir: October 30, 1975

The Poetry Center presents Jessica Hagedorn and the West Coast Gangster Choir, in this historic mid-1970s video...

Date: 1975-10-30

Judy Grahn and Diane Wakoski: October 2, 1974

The Poetry Center presents Judy Grahn and Diane Wakoski, appearing at the San Francisco Museum of Art, each reading from...

Date: 1974-10-02

Diane di Prima and Kathleen Fraser: June 21, 1974

The Poetry Center presents Diane di Prima and Kathleen Fraser, each reading from their work, following introductions by...

Date: 1974-06-21

Adrienne Rich: April 25, 1974

The Poetry Center presents Adrienne Rich, in this rare early color-video recording. Rich, in a solo feature program,...

Date: 1974-04-25

Charles Reznikoff: March 21, 1974

The Poetry Center presents Charles Reznikoff, reading his poetry before an audience at San Francisco State University. He...

Date: 1974-03-21

Ernest J. Gaines: March 6, 1974

The Poetry Center presents novelist Ernest J. Gaines, reading from an early typescript of his subsequent novel In My...

Date: 1974-03-06

Tomas Tranströmer: March 4, 1974

The Poetry Center presents Tomas Tranströmer, reading his poetry in translations by May Swenson, Robert Bly, and...

Date: 1974-03-04

Ishmael Reed and Stan Rice: October 4, 1973

The Poetry Center presents Ishmael Reed and Stan Rice, reading from their contemporary works, in this early black &...

Date: 1973-10-04

John Ashbery: May 16, 1973

The Poetry Center presents John Ashbery, reading from his poetry at the San Francisco Museum of Art (pre SFMOMA), at...

Date: 1973-05-16

Robert Duncan and George Oppen: February 22, 1973

The Poetry Center presents Robert Duncan and George Oppen, reading from their poetry, in the very first video...

Date: 1973-02-22

Allen Ginsberg: April 27, 1959

The Poetry Center presents Allen Ginsberg reading Kaddish and other works.

Date: 04/27/1959

W. H. Auden, On the Hero in Modern Poetry: October 11, 1954

The Poetry Center presents W. H. Auden, delivering a lecture titled "On the Hero in Modern Poetry" before an...

Date: 1954-10-11