K. Curtis Lyle and Calvin C. Hernton: November 16, 1977

The Poetry Center presents a rare reading by Black Arts Movement poets K. Curtis Lyle, founding member of the Watts Writers Workshop of Los Angeles, and Calvin C. Hernton, sociologist and poet and founding member of the New York City-based Umbra Workshop. The poets are introduced, at New College of California in San Francisco's Mission district, by their friend (and fellow Umbra poet) Ishmael Reed. He is welcomed to the stage by Poetry Center director Lewis MacAdams, organizer of the event, in collaboration with the New College Poetics Program.

Publisher
American Poetry Archives
Location
New College of California, San Francisco
Date
1977-11-16
Event Run Time
01:28:40
Contributors
Lewis MacAdams
Ishmael Reed
Rights

©© American Poetry Archives. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. For all other uses please email poetry@sfsu.edu. 

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Ishmael Reed (00:10:52)

After being introduced by Lewis MacAdams as "a man of Tolstoyan force," Ishmael Reed provides an extended introduction to poets K. Curtis Lyle and Calvin C. Hernton.

Reed, introducing Hernton, refers to the latter's sociological study, Sex and Racism in America (Doubleday, 1965). In introducing Lyle, Reed makes reference to The Collected Poem for Blind Lemon Jefferson (Mbari, 1971), a remarkable LP recorded with saxophonist/composer Julius Hemphill (reissued on CD in 2002).

K. Curtis Lyle (00:31:59)

K. Curtis Lyle opens by reading a poem for his friend Ojenke (a.k.a. Alvin Saxon), titled "Sukadree" ("meaning sweetness"), then says "and we begin, with a song, and the song says 'If you're a hero....'" and is dedicated to Rastafarians. He then turns to read: "Sufis and Raw Stars," "Why I Left St. Louis Soliloquy: Because They Will Make Up Your Dying Bed Blues," "The Epileptic Camel Driver Speaks to a Refugee Death: Elegy for Fakin' Floyd Raintree," and "The Prophet Armed: Deliver the Word."

Calvin C. Hernton (00:41:10)

Calvin C. Hernton reads "Hands," "Low Down and Sweet," "Jitterbugging in the Streets," "Elements of Grammar," "The Point," and "Brighton."

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