1950s Audio Programs

The Poetry Center's unparalleled 1950s collection documents at close hand the world-renowned "San Francisco Renaissance" movement, centered on new poetry, alongside the presence of more 'mainstream' figures. This collection features many of the earliest recordings of the voices and works of outstanding poets engaged in the San Francisco scene, along with other poets from across the country. Of special note are recordings from landmark Poetry Center-organized West Coast appearances by celebrated literary giants William Carlos Williams, Marianne Moore, and Langston Hughes. Founding director Ruth (more)

Helen Adam: April 7, 1957

The Poetry Center presents Helen Adam reading from Ballads and other poems. This event also featured Jess, reading his...

Date: 04/07/1957

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

George Barker: October 21, 1959

The Poetry Center presents George Barker reading from his poetry.

Date: 10/21/1959

Ebbe Borregaard and George Stanley: March 15, 1958

The Poetry Center presents Ebbe Borregaard and George Stanley reading from their early poetry.

Date: 03/15/1958

James Broughton, Two Plays: May 23, 1957

The Poetry Center presents a performance of two plays by James Broughton, Mother, Reality & Happiness and The Last...

Date: 05/23/57

Chao Tze-Chiang: July 9, 1958

The Poetry Center presents Chao Tze-Chiang chanting in Cantonese, and providing English translations, from the work of...

Date: 07/09/1958

Gregory Corso: October 21, 1956

The Poetry Center presents Gregory Corso reading from his early poetry.

Date: 10/21/1956

Robert Creeley: May 20, 1956

The Poetry Center presents Robert Creeley reading from his early books of poetry.

Date: 05/20/1956

Robert Creeley: July 16, 1959

The Poetry Center presents Robert Creeley reading from his poetry.

Date: 07/16/1959

Robert Duncan: October 10, 1956

The Poetry Center presents Robert Duncan reading from his poetry and a play.

Date: 10/10/1956

Robert Duncan: May 18, 1959

The Poetry Center presents Robert Duncan reading his poetry from and discussing his book The Opening of the Field (1960).

Date: 05/18/1959

Landis Everson: November 4, 1956

The Poery Center presents Landis Everson reading from his early poetry. Note: This event also featured poet Eve Triem.

Date: 11/04/1956

William Everson (a.k.a. Brother Antoninus): July 21, 1955

The Poetry Center presents Brother Antoninus reading from his poetry.

Date: 07/21/1955

Lawrence Ferlinghetti: December 12, 1956

The Poetry Center presents Lawrence Ferlinghetti reading from his book A Coney Island of the Mind. This event also...

Date: 12/12/1956

Allen Ginsberg: April 27, 1959

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

Date: 04/27/1959

Madeline Gleason: November 14, 1956

The Poetry Center presents Madeline Gleason reading from her poetry.

Date: 11/14/1956

Donald Davie and Thom Gunn: May 18, 1958

The Poetry Center presents Donald Davie and Thom Gunn reading from their poetry.

Date: 05/18/1958

Robert Horan: July 14, 1954

The Poetry Center presents Robert Horan reading his poem The Riddle of the Sphinx.

Date: 07/14/1954

Langston Hughes: December 5, 1958

The Poetry Center presents Langston Hughes reading from his poetry and providing an extensive autobiographical account of...

Date: 12/05/1958

Randall Jarrell: October 3, 1956

The Poetry Center presents Randall Jarrell reading from his poetry.

Date: 10/03/1956

Jess (Collins): April 7, 1957

The Poetry Center presents Jess reading from his poetry and translations. This event also featured poet Helen Adam.

Date: 04/07/1957

James Keilty, Two Plays: January 25, 1959

The Poetry Center presents live performances of James Keilty's two plays Ways of Spending Money and Genji and...

Date: 01/25/1959

Stanley Kunitz: July 17, 1956

The Poetry Center presents Stanley Kunitz reading from his poetry.

Date: 07/17/1956

Denise Levertov: February 10, 1958

The Poetry Center presents Denise Levertov reading from a selection of her poetry.

Date: 02/10/1958

Philip Levine: November 24, 1958

The Poetry Center presents Philip Levine reading from his early poetry. This event also featured poet Gary Snyder.

Date: 11/24/1958

Robert Lowell: March 27, 1957

The Poetry Center presents Robert Lowell reading from Life Studies and other poems.

Date: 03/27/1957

Josephine Miles: 1954

Josephine Miles lectures on the teaching of poetry.

Date: 00/00/1954

Marianne Moore: October 10, 1957

The Poetry Center presents Marianne Moore reading from her Collected Poems and other works.

Date: 10/10/1957

Marianne Moore: October 18, 1957

The Poetry Center presents Marianne Moore reading from her Collected Poems and The Fables of La Fontaine .

Date: 10/18/1957

Charles Olson: February 21, 1957

The Poetry Center presents Charles Olson reading from The Maximus Poems and other works.

Date: 02/21/1957

Kenneth Patchen: December 6, 1957

The Poetry Center presents Kenneth Patchen reading from his poetry.

Date: 12/06/1957

Bruce Boyd, Saul White and Stuart Z. Perkoff: March 30, 1958

The Poetry Center presents Bruce Boyd, Saul White, and Stuart Z. Perkoff reading from their poetry.

Date: 03/30/1958

Theodore Roethke: February 25, 1954

Theodore Roethke reading from his poetry, for the Poetry Center's inaugural reading.

Date: 02/25/1954

Reading at Six Gallery Re-Creation: March 11, 1956

The Poetry Center presents the March 1956 Berkeley re-creation of the famed October 1955 Six Gallery reading, introduced...

Date: 03/11/1956

Kenneth Rexroth: July 13, 1955

The Poetry Center presents Kenneth Rexroth reading from his poetry and translations.

Date: 07/13/1955

Kenneth Rexroth: October 5, 1959

The Poetry Center presents Kenneth Rexroth, reading from his poetry and playing recordings of French songs.

Date: 10/05/1959

Muriel Rukeyser: July 28, 1955

The Poetry Center presents Muriel Rukeyser reading from her poetry.

Date: 07/28/1955

Muriel Rukeyser: July 16, 1958

The Poetry Center presents Muriel Rukeyser reading from her poetry and translations of Octavio Paz.

Date: 07/16/1958

James Schevill's The Bloody Tenet: January 12, 1958

The Poetry Center presents James Schevill's play The Bloody Tenet performed by members of the Actors Workshop.

Date: 01/12/1958

Gary Snyder: November 24, 1958

The Poetry Center presents Gary Snyder reading from his poetry. This event also included poet Philip Levine.

Date: 11/24/1958

Jack Spicer: April 11, 1957

The Poetry Center presents Jack Spicer reading from his poetry.

Date: 04/11/1957

Jack Spicer's Poetry as Magic Workshop: June 9, 1957

The Poetry Center presents poets from Jack Spicer's "Poetry as Magic" Workshop, including Helen Adam, Ebbe...

Date: 06/09/1957

Jack Spicer's Poetry as Magic Workshop: June 10, 1957

The Poetry Center presents poets from Jack Spicer's "Poetry as Magic" Workshop, including Jack Gilbert,...

Date: 06/10/1957

William Stafford: July 23, 1959

The Poetry Center presents William Stafford reading from his poetry.

Date: 07/23/1959

Eve Triem: November 4, 1956

The Poetry Center presents Eve Triem reading from A Parade of Doves , her translations from The Greek Anthology and...

Date: 11/04/1956

Lew Welch: November 9, 1959

The Poetry Center presents Lew Welch reading from and discussing his poetry.

Date: 11/09/1959

Philip Whalen: December 12, 1956

The Poetry Center presents Philip Whalen reading from his poetry. This event also featured poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

Date: 12/12/1956

John Wieners: June 21, 1959

The Poetry Center presents John Wieners reading from an unpublished manuscript and The Hotel Wentley Poems .

Date: 06/21/1959

William Carlos Williams: May 19, 1955

The Poetry Center presents William Carlos Williams reading and talking about his poetry.

Date: 05/19/1955

Yvor Winters: February 14, 1958

The Poetry Center presents Yvor Winters reading from his poetry.

Date: 02/14/1958

Louis Zukofsky: July 2, 1958

The Poetry Center presents Louis Zukofsky reading from his poetry. Note: Zukofsky taught at San Francisco State College...

Date: 07/02/1958