Archive Catalog

This online catalog represents a portion of the American Poetry Archives 4,000+ hour collection, and is centered on some 2,000 original video-recordings made from 1973–2002. Not included here are most early audio recordings, 1954–73, and recent digital video-recordings, subsequent to 2002. This listing is provided as a public service, and indication of the extent of the American Poetry Archives collection.

POETRY CENTER DIGITAL ARCHIVE features digital versions of select early audio recordings from 1954 forward, with further works to be migrated online incrementally.

PLEASE NOTE: Because of technical issues involving ongoing access to fragile original master-tapes, frequently in antiquated formats, many of the recordings listed here are not readily available for general public access. While we are in the process of migrating our extensive collection online—a multi-year project—public access to recordings not yet available online must be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Richard Caddel: November 7, 1985
36 minutes.
English poet Richard Caddel reads "Our Lady of Tears," "Quiet Alchemy: I: Broken Consort," "Quiet Alchemy: II: Little Particles," "From Wreay Churchyard (in memory of Basil Bunting)," "Deadly Sins: Slander, Hypocrisy, Gluttony, Sloth, Avarice, Pride, Winter, and Drunkenness," "Motive," "Ramsons," "Rigmarole," "Poem for My Mother," "Homage to Paul Nash I - III," and "Shelter." Frances Phillips introduces Caddel and August Kleinzahler, At SFSU.

Bob Callahan: February 17, 2000
(see Group Readings, Edward Dorn: A Memorial Tribute)

Lori Callies: November 14, 1985
(see Group Readings, San Francisco AIDS Foundation Benefit)

Leslie Campbell: May 9, 1980
60 minutes.
As part of the Women Working in Literature Conference, scholar Leslie Campbell dicusses characters, entity writing, syntax, and grammar in the work of Gertrude Stein. Her talk includes readings from Stein's Melanctha; Tender Buttons: Objects, Food, Rooms; "Lifting Belly;" and "Patriarchal Poetry." Frances Mayes introduces Campbell, at Fort Mason.

Rafael Campo: March 7, 1996
30 minutes.
A graduate of Harvard Medical School and, at the time of this reading, a staff member and teacher at Harvard University Beth Israel Hospital, Rafael Campo's poems reflect both his Cuban heritage and the impact of HIV and AIDS on his community. In a Writing and Community Series event co-sponsored with the Keith Haring Altarpiece and AIDS Memorial Chapel Project at Grace Cathedral, Campo reads poems from The Other Man Was Me, What the Body Told, and Ten Patients and Another. Rosemary Catacalos introduces Campo and Alice Jones, at Grace Cathedral.

Canyon: May 10, 1980
(see Group Readings, Women Writers' Union "On the Workplace")

Ernesto Cardenal: February 3, 1976
90 minutes.
The Poetry Center, in collaboration with the Comite Civico Pro Liberacion de Nicaragua, presents Ernesto Cardenal, the national poet of Nicaragua, in his first San Francisco appearance, reading en Español, with English translations, at the Everyman Theatre.

Ernesto Cardenal: November 8, 1990
90 minutes.
Ernesto Cardenal, a Roman Catholic priest and the former Minister of Culture in Nicaragua's Sandinista government, reads from his most recent collection of poetry, Canto Cosmico. Poet Alejandro Murguia translates. Gustavo Calderon introduces, and interviews Cardenal. The event is followed by a Q&A session, at Knuth Hall, SFSU campus.

Ernesto Cardenal: April 19, 2001
60 minutes.
In 1976, Ernesto Cardinal read from his poetry in San Francisco to celebrate the opening of the Mission Cultural Center. This reading, co-sponsored with New College of California and the Mission Cultural Center, marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of that institution. He reads from Canto Cosmico in Spanish, with Alejandro Murguia reading English translations, at The Women's Bulding. Note: tape ends short.

Catalina Cariaga: March 6, 1997
(see Group Readings, "Returning a Borrowed Tongue: Filipino and Filipino American Poetry" reading)

Catalina Cariaga: November 16, 2000
30 minutes.
Poet Catalina Cariaga reads from her first book, Cultural Evidence, selected as one of eight books honored by the PEN America Open Book Program 2000. She reads "Availability," "Dogmeat," "Planting," "No Boat," "No Moon," "Excerpts from Bahala Na!," and an uncollected poem, "Exactitude." Steve Dickison introduces Cariaga and Eugene Gloria, at The Poetry Center.

Jim Carroll: October 10, 1974
30 minutes.
Jim Carroll reads the poems "The Calypso of Eucalypti," "For John Wieners," "Poem for Man," "Some Fears," "Andy's Daughters," "Home," "Working," "Kitten - Self Pity," "Poem for Edmund Joseph Berrigan," "A Piano Solo at Carnegie Hall," "Living at the Movies," "Crossed Wires," "Leaving New York City," "To a Poetess," "California Poem," "Midnight," "Prell," "Back Home," "Love Story," "Chelsea May," "Savage Bubbles," "Paregoric Babies," "Highway Report," and "An Apple at Dawn." Lewis MacAdams introduces Carroll and Bill Berkson, at SFSU.

Hayden Carruth: March 12, 1992
31 minutes.
Poet, essayist, and editor Hayden Carruth makes a rare appearance in the Bay Area. He reads "Regarding Chainsaws," "Purana," "The Saving Way," "The Cows at Night," "Green Mountain Idyll," "Flying Into St. Louis," "I Tell You For Several Years of My Madness I Heard the Voice of Lilith Singing in the Tree Tops of Chicago," "Of Distress Being Humiliated By the Classical Chinese Poets," and "No Matter What After All and That Beautiful Word 'Sure'." Rosemary Catacalos introduces Carruth and Denise Levertov, at The Unitarian Center.

Anne Carson: February 24, 2000
90 minutes.
Poet Anne Carson opens her four-part presentation by defining literary translation as "the process of thinking about thinking . . . the active region between languages as the 'position before zero'"-the space maintained between two languages throughout a translation. In describing both the conventions of Greek tragedy and the obstacles of translating pain, she then reads from and discusses her own translation of Sophocles' Elektra, and the specific problem of translating Elektra's onomatopoetic screams. In the second part of her presentation, Carson reads her 'translation' of writings by Anna Akhmatova as an inventive 'made-for-television' treatment of the life of the Russian poet. The third part of Carson's presentation centers on the concept of translating images into words. In a series interpolated with excerpts from St. Augustine's Confessions, she reads her poetic responses to the paintings of Edward Hopper against slides of his paintings "Night Hawks," "The Automat," "Room in Brooklyn," "The Barber Shop," "Office at Night," "Western Motel," "Summer Interior," "11 AM," and "Evening Wind." Carson concludes the evening with an essay-like poem inspired by the work of artist Betty Goodwin. Steve Dickison introduces Carson, at The Unitarian Center.

Michelle Carter: March 18, 1993
30 minutes.
Fiction writer Michelle Carter is a former Mirrielees Fellow at Stanford University, and is Professor of Creative Writing at SFSU. Here she reads excerpts from Shiver the Heart. Rosemary Catacalos introduces Carter and Arturo Arias, at J. Paul Leonard Library, SFSU.

Xam Wilson Cartiér: November 17, 1988
30 minutes.
From her novel-in-progress tentatively titled A Void Dance, African-American novelist Xam Wilson Cartiér reads "Bigtime Jazz and Razzmatazz," and "Montevideo: A Road Show On Leave From Chicago." From Be-Bop, Re-Bop, her novel about the power of jazz, she reads "Custom-Fit Blue Genes: Scenes of the Nest," and "Muz And The Sphere of Memory." Robert Glück introduces Cartiér and Susan Hansell, at The San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery.

Xam Wilson Cartiér: February 7, 1989
(see Group Readings, SFSU President Robert A. Corrigan)

Cyrus Cassells: October 16, 1981
20 minutes.
African American poet Cyrus Cassells reads "The Mud Actor," "Typhoon," To Dream the Energy of Clay," "Tokyo," "The Pillow," "Bound Feet," "The Servant," "Blossoms," "Landscape for the Traveller," and "La Luna Verde." With poet Sharon Doubiago and Honor Johnson, at 644 Natoma Gallery.

Cyrus Cassells: November 5, 1994
(see Group Readings, "The Whole Matter of the Human: Voicing Difference in Poetry")

Cyrus Cassells: April 30, 1998
30 minutes.
In celebration of National Poetry Month, The Poetry Center presents Cyrus Cassells and Frances Mayes reading from their work. Cassells reads poems from Beautiful Signor, The Magician-made Tree, and The Mud Actor, which was a 1982 National Poetry Series selection. Jewelle Gomez introduces Cassells and Mayes, at the New Main Library, San Francisco.

Nina Cassian: May 10, 1982
36 minutes.
Romanian poet Nina Cassian wrote her first poem in 1929 at age five. Since then she has published over 50 volumes of work-primarily poetry, but also children's books and translations-and is considered one of Romania's most prominent poets. Visiting San Francisco from New York, she reads "They Cut Me in Two," "The Necessary Marriage," "The Doors," "Puberty," "Ready for Goodbye," "The Adolescent of Massacres," "Change of Scenery," "The Bear," "Then," "The Blot," "Capital Punishment," "Because You Don't Love Me," "The Cripples," "Warning," "The Kiwi Bird," "Evening Will Come Again," "Intimacy," "Softening," "Fable," "Who Would Have Thought," "Romance," "Like Gulliver," "The Dog," "Lady of Miracles," "She Was Beautiful and Wicked," "Three Times Naked," "Agoraphobia," "The Final Nails," "Few Days are Left to Me," and other poems. She is joined by the translator of her work, Laura Schiff.

Wilfredo Castaño: December 4, 1974
37 minutes.
Note: original tape quality is poor
Poet Wilfredo Castaño reads "Lost Ramblings," "Laying On The Cliffs at Bear Canyon," "I wondered if she was an illusion..."(a poem with photos), "Existentialist Romance #1-#3" (a poem with photos), "A Conception of Death in Six Forms" (a poem with photos), "Two Step Poem," "Divine Poem," "Poem #16," "San Bernardino Poem," "Cat Face," "Bull Fight," "Night Walk in Spain," "Cocktail," "Screams, Letters, & Dreams," "In Flight," "Outdoor Poem," "Folk Deity," "University of Sand," "Old Time," and "Dedications." Kathleen Fraser introduces Castaño and Bob Kaufman.

Wilfredo Castaño: October 25, 1978
20 minutes.
Wilfred Castaño, Alejandro Murguia, and Alma Villanueva read in celebration of Tin-Tan magazine, a publication out of the exciting bilingual writing and art scene in San Francisco's Latino Mission District. Tin-Tan contributor Wilfred Castaño reads "Fire," "First Time," "To My Nephew Damien Alexander Iros," "Poem to Pinera the Hunger," "These Words Do Not Come as a Surprise," "Bone Game," "Poem to a Dead, Webfooted Bird on the Edge of a Tidepool," "Drum for Nicaragua/Tombot por Nicaragua-Que fuerza/What Force," and "I Am the Man Who Picks Your Food." In the Barbary Coast Room, SFSU.

Wilfredo Castaño: October 24, 1980
(see Group Readings, Rebound Project Benefit Reading)

Wilfredo Castaño: September 29, 1983
28 minutes.
Poet Wilfredo Castano reads a translation of "October" by Guatemalan poet Otto Rene Castillo, "Mid-Morning Prayer," "Rectangular Pillow," "Because," "Proposal," "Poetry Karate Words Terror," "U.S.A.," "Why Do They Make It So Hard To Educate the Poor?" "Talking to an Illness," "Outside," "Be," "5:10," "Ethnic Diagnosis," "Poem to a Dead, Webfooted Bird on the Edge of a Tidepool," "Poem to My Brother Men," and "To People Who Pick Food." He concludes by reading poems from Father's Web. Carol Arnett and Carolee Sanchez are the co-readers, at SFSU.

Ana Castillo: October 16, 1986
23 minutes.
Poet and novelist Ana Castillo reads "Alternatives" from an unpublished work. She then reads selections from Women Are Not Roses, The Invitation, and her famed novel The Mixquiahuala Letters. Frances Phillips introduces Castilllo and Arthur Sze, at SFSU.

Rosemary Catacalos, writing and narration to Palabra: 1993
(see Group Readings & Anthologies)

Tom Centollela: September 26, 1991
36 minutes.
Poet and former Wallace Stegner Fellow Tom Centollela reads from his first book, Terra Firma, selected by Denise Levertov for the National Poetry Series. Levertov says of the collection, "To 'recover the taken-for-granted' is the task he sets for himself-a task perenially necessary, but perhaps never more so than it is today." Chitra Divakaruni is the co-reader, at The Blakeslee Room, SFSU.

Virginia Cerenio: March 6, 1997
(see Group Readings, "Returning a Borrowed Tongue: Filipino and Filipino American Poetry" reading)

Lorna Dee Cervantes: October 24, 1980
(see Group Readings, Rebound Project Benefit Reading)

Lorna Dee Cervantes: April 14, 1985
34 minutes.
Poet Lorna Dee Cervantes reads "Letters to David," a long poem consisting of letters to David Kennedy, son of John F. Kennedy. Frances Mayes introduces Cervantes and Karen Brodine, at SFSU.

Margaret Cesa: September 11, 1980
30 minutes.
Poet Margaret Cesa reads "Mastectomy," "Eleven O'Clock News," "Asking," "Buried Next To Him," "The Armed Gardens," "Man," "Classified," "Loving as a One Way Street" and other poems from Slide Show Book. Vicki Hearne and Buff Bradley are the co-readers, at SFSU.

Joseph Chaikin: June 1, 1978
40 minutes.
This video production of the play Tongues, a collaboration between Sam Shepard and Joseph Chaikin, was first produced on stage at the Eureka Theatre Festival in 1979, and is presented here in an early presentation in San Francisco.

Lori Chamberlain: June 20, 1986
(see Group Readings, Jack Spicer Conference, Part II)

Cydney Chadwick: December 1, 1994
33 minutes.
Fiction writer Cydney Chadwick is the author of Enemy Clothing, Persistent Disturbances, Oeuvres, Inside the Hours, and Benched. She's the editor of the literary journal Avec, and the publisher of Avec Books. Here she reads "Respite," "Couched," "Altruism," "Confessions of a Noun," "Flesh and Blood," "Types," "Evolutions," "Regressions," and "Full Circle" from Thickskinned. Aaron Shurin introduces Chadwick and Will Alexander.

Theresa Chavez: February 3, 1994
44 minutes.
Theresa Chavez is a writer, director, producer, and interdisciplinary artist based in Los Angeles. Much of her work explores the Mexican/Mestizo history of L.A. She reads from Vox, L.A. Real, and The Correct Posture of a True Revolutionary. Rosemary Catacalos introduces Chavez and Roy Conboy, at the J. Paul Leonard Library, SFSU.

Maxine Chernoff: September 15, 1994
27 minutes.
Poet, writer, and teacher Maxine Chernoff is the author of six books of poetry and was the winner of the 1985 Carl Sandburg Award. Her short story collections are Bop and Signs of Devotion, the latter of which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year for 1993. Here she reads from the manuscript of her novel, American Heaven. Michelle Carter introduces Chernoff and Ron Hansen, at SFSU.

Maxine Chernoff: October 7, 1999
20 minutes.
In one of several events marking the centennial year of SFSU, Maxine Chernoff reads selections from her third novel A Boy in Winter. Steve Dickison introduces Chernoff and Marilyn Hacker, Melba Pattilo Beals, and Greg Sarris, at San Francisco Main Public Library, Koret Auditorium.

Laura Chester: March 20, 1975
40 minutes.
Laura Chester reads "Obelisk," "Carved Out," "I Never Wanted to Be so Thirsty," and poems from her collections Night Latch and Primagravida. Jane Cooper is the co-reader.

Laura Chester: March 29, 1987
35 minutes.
Laura Chester, with some help from poet Summer Brenner, performs "On the Wallowy" from My Pleasure. Chester then reads "Either Too Much or Not Enough," "Crazy," "Strange Streams," "Free Rein," "At Liberty," and "Eating Alone" from In the Zone. Frances Phillips introduces Chester and Amy Gerstler, at SFSU.

Abigail Childs: September 8, 1984
70 minutes.
Poet and filmmaker Abigail Childs reads "Blueprint for a Scenario" and "Inside Story." Johanna Drucker is the co-reader, at SFSU.

Frank Chin: September 14, 1989
80 minutes.
Novelist and playwright Frank Chin reading and in conversation with Jeffrey Chan. Chin reads from Chickencoop Chinaman and The Year Of The Dragon. He concludes his reading with "Ballad of Mulan" and is then interviewed by Jeffrey Chan, a Professor of Asian-American Studies at SFSU. Robert Glück makes the introductions, at Knuth Hall, SFSU.

Justin Chin: November 4, 1995
(see Group Readings, "Premonitions: The Kaya Anthology of Asian North American Poetry" reading)

Justin Chin: October 30, 1997
39 minutes.
From Bite Hard, writer and performance artist Justin Chin performs "Cocksucker's Blues," "Refuging," "Why A Boy"; "I Want to be a Buffed Fag," and "Tom Selleck Battles the Manila Assembly of Lucifer." Jewelle Gomez introduces Chin and Judith Katz, at SFSU.

Marilyn Chin: October 26, 1989
30 minutes.
Poet Marilyn Chin reads "The End of a Beginning," "We Are a Young Nation, Uncle," "We Are Americans Now," "A Chinaman's Chance," "Ode to Anger," "Love Poem From Nagasaki," "Unrequited Love," "Beauty, My Sisters, Is Not Regalia," "Art Is What Humans Leave Behind, Roberto," "Gruel," "Reggae Renga," "New Year's Lament, 1988," "The Tao and the Art of Leave-taking," and "The Floral Apron." Robert Glück introduces Chin and David Mura, at The Blakeslee Room, SFSU.

Carol Christensen: October 21, 1999
70 minutes.
Free-lance writer, editor, and translator Carol Christensen participates in a panel discussion on the art of translation. She is joined by her partner, Thomas Christensen, and together they read from their collaborative translations of works by such authors as Louis-Ferdinand Celine, Carlos Fuentes, Alejo Carpentier, and Julio Cortázar. Ms. Christensen reads "Only a Real Idiot," an excerpt from their translation of Julio Cortázar's Around the Day in Eighty Worlds. They discuss the challenges of translating Laura Esquivel's best-selling novel Like Water for Chocolate. A Q&A session follows the presentation. The Christensens are introduced by Steve Dickison, at The Poetry Center.

Thomas Christensen: October 21, 1999
70 minutes.
Editor and translator Thomas Christensen opens a panel discussion on the art of translation with a reading of his translation of "Scandal in the Deep," a section in Louis-Ferdinand Celine's Ballets Without Music, Without Dancers, Without Anything. He is joined by his partner Carol Christensen and together they discuss the 'Boom' in Latin American Literature, an epoch-marking phrase coined by Jose Donoso to describe the emergence of such Latin American writers as Julio Cortázar, Carlos Fuentes, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. They also discuss the advent of Magic Realism and read from their collaborative translations, including works by such authors as Carlos Fuentes, Alejo Carpentier, and Julio Cortázar. The event concludes with a reading from their translation of Laura Esquivel's best-selling novel Like Water for Chocolate and Q&A. The Christensens are introduced by Steve Dickison, at The Poetry Center.

Barbara Christian: April 14, 1985
30 minutes.
As part of the Women Working in Literature conference, renowned African American scholar Barbara Christian joins Monique Wittig and Merle Woo in a panel discussion entilted "Political Issues in Women's Writing." Deborah Rosenfelt is the moderator, at Fort Mason.

Chrystos: February 27, 1997
45 minutes.
Poet and activist Chrystos reads selections from her books Extracts from Pelican Bay and Fugitive Colors. Jewelle Gomez introduces Chrystos and Patricia Dienstfrey, at SFSU.

Susan Clark: September 14, 2000
65 minutes.
From her ambitious and unbounded poem Bad Infinity, a conglomeration of serial poems "about everything," Vancouver poet and Raddle Moon editor Susan Clark reads "The Hysterical Agglomerate," "Abstract," "A Clock," "The Taking Place," "To Fall Out," "Consult," "Beyond Recognition," "Welcome Unwelcome," "Matter Can Never Turn into Mind and Mind Cannot Turn into Matter," "An Ant," "The Reader Female Loses," "In the News, In the Distance," "Will Suite," "Can Empathy Be Enlarged by Removing Punctuation," "The Army," "In the Distance (Grammatically)," "Radio Self," "Time Being the Female," "Disinterested Ownership," and "Liberty Antiprojection." Steve Dickison introduces Susan Clark and Lisa Robertson, both of whom have long been affiliated with Vancouver's Kootenay School of Writing, at The Unitarian Center.

Tom Clark: October 25, 1973
60 minutes.
At the time of this reading, Tom Clark had been the poetry editor for The Paris Review for ten years and was the author or editor of at least a dozen books of poetry, including Stones, Air, Neil Young, John's Heart, All Stars, Green, Suite, Smack, and Blue. Here he reads from Suite, Blue, and Expeditions by Lewis & Clark, a collaboration with the evening's co-reader, Lewis MacAdams. Kathleen Fraser introduces the poets, at SFSU.

Tom Clark: October 27, 1976
30 minutes.
Poet Tom Clark reads "5 A.M.," "Every Day," "Cupid Stung,""I Ask You," "A Fair Shade," "Glimpse of Amaryllis," "Realism," "October," "The Big Cigars," "So Long," "Autobiography #1," "Autobiography #2," "35," "Deep in the Forest," "The Stars," "Goodbye," "Life Flowed Between Us," "The Catch," "Breadwinning," "Elegy #1-`The Great One'," "Elegy #2," and "Japan." Lewis MacAdams introduces Clark and Donald Hall, in the Barbary Coast Room, SFSU.

Tom Clark: March 12, 1987
70 minutes.
Tom Clark reads "Sadly Celine," "Celine Again," "Path of Least Resistance," "Fault," "Opium Smoker," "Double," "Shivering Into the Future," "Citizen of the Future," "New Idol," "Technophilology," "Seeking Work and/or Permits in Berkeley," "Moment," "Glassitude," "Belief," "Here," "Angelic Witnesses," "Divine Dancers," "Nazir K," "Star Wars," "Burst Phase," "Angelology," "Rip Chord," "Fear," "Stupor," "Artaud and the Angel," "Artaud and the Angel After Mexico," "The Divine Comedy," "Arc," "Their Frozen Pinions Are Ice," "February," "Revelation," "Bound," "Sexual Theory of History," "Induction," "Suspensions," "Angel Arcs," "After Dante," "Circling Back to Earth," "The Divers," "Stare Up Into," "The Days," and "Blue Planet." Frances Phillips introduces Clark, at SFSU.

Tom Clark: March 25, 1993
78 minutes.
Poet, editor, and biographer Tom Clark reads poems from The Secret Life of Cindy Crawford and Junkets on a Sad Planet: Scenes from The Life of John Keats. Aaron Shurin introduces Clark and Joanne Kyger, at the Eye Gallery.

Tom Clark: February 17, 2000
(see Group Readings, Edward Dorn: A Memorial Tribute)

Cheryl Clarke: April 3, 1997
43 minutes.
Cheryl Clarke-whose poetry, essays, and reviews have appeared in numerous feminist, lesbian, gay, and African American publications-reads from Experimental Love, Humid Pitch, Chicago, and Living as a Lesbian Underground: a Futuristic Fantasy. Jewelle Gomez introduces Clarke.

Killarney Clary: December 6, 1990
30 minutes.
Poet Killarney Clary reads "You or I...," "She can spin...," "Green beetles...," "Life is boundless...," "Sacrificed so that I...," "Above the Inland Empire...," "Secret heart so far...," "Lightning," "The curator's joke...," "For every demon thrown out...," "The sound was not unlike a drum...," and "Dust and elm leaves pushed..." Robert Glück introduces Clary and Myung Mi Kim, at The Blakeslee Room, SFSU campus.

Buriel Clay: April 5, 1978
111 minutes.
A month after this production of his play Cituations: Blues for the Theatre, playwright Buriel Clay was tragically killed in an automobile accident. Cituations is a non-plot theater piece that, against the African American experience, dramatizes Clay's process of writing poems, plays, music, and essays. At SFSU.

Michelle Cliff: April 13, 1985
72 minutes.
Michelle Cliff, Beverly Dahlen, and Daphne Marlatt discuss the topic "Women Writers and Literary Form" at The Poetry Center's Women Working in Literature conference. Introductions by Robert Glück, at SFSU.

Michelle Cliff: October 9, 1986
39 minutes.
Jamaican writer Michelle Cliff reads from her forthcoming novel, No Telephone to Heaven. Frances Phillips introduces Cliff and poet Toi Dericotte, at The Blakesdee Room, SFSU.

Michelle Cliff: October 5, 1995
20 minutes.
In a Writing and Community Series event entitled "Into the Mix: Writing Race and Culture," poet Truong Tran moderates a discussion between Michelle Cliff and Juan Felipe Herrera on the topic of writing the Other. Cliff reads from Free Enterprise. Rosemary Catacalos introduces the panel, at SF Public Library, Excelsior Branch.

Lucille Clifton: April 2, 1987
35 minutes.
Poet Lucille Clifton reads "homage to my hips," "what the mirror said," "homage to my hair," "the lucky stone," "life in santa cruz - homage to the tops," "shape shifter poems 1,2,4," "them bones will rise again," "in white america," "yes lord he was born with a withered arm," and "california lessons 1,2,3,4,5." Frances Phillips introduces Clifton and George Barlow, at San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery.

J. M. Coetzee: February 21, 1986
50 minutes.
Renowned South African novelist J. M. Coetzee reads from Foe, Waiting For The Barbarians, and Life And Times Of Michael K. Frances Phillips introduces Coetzee, at SFSU.

Elaine Cohen: October 15, 1992
22 minutes.
In a Writing and Community Series called "Jazz," The Poetry Center presents a reading and open discussion with Quincy Troupe, Elaine Cohen, and Alisa Clancy. Elaine Cohen's volume of poetry is entitled Closer to the Source: Poems 1969-1979. Here she reads "Mingus..." Michael Palmer moderates the event. Rose Catacalos makes the introductions, at San Francisco Public Library, Western Addition Branch.

Allison Hedge Coke: October 27, 2001
45 minutes.
Native American poet Allison Hedge Coke, the author of the American Book Award-winning Dog Road Woman, reads "Shapings," "The Dove," "News Flash: Tagging Death," "Off Season," and the long autobiographical poem, "The Year of the Rat," as well as other poems. Steve Dickison introduces Hedge Coke and Mark Nowak, at Knuth Hall, SFSU.

Norma Cole: September 22, 1988
30 minutes.
Norma Cole reads "Letters of Discipline" and "The Provinces" from Metamorphopsia. From My Bird Book, she reads "We Hunt the Wren for Robin" and "Absorption is a Noun of Action." Robert Glück introduces Cole and Diane Glancy, At SFSU.

Norma Cole: June 27, 1993
(see Group Readings, Jerry Estrin: A Memorial Reading)

Norma Cole: September 28, 1995
43 minutes.
As part of the California Writers Series, The Poetry Center presents Norma Cole reading and in conversation with Michael Palmer. Together they read from their collaboration, A Library Book. Cole reads "Contrafact: A Library Book," "Map," "Letter," "Parallel," "Reader," "Well," and "Stanzas." From her book Mars, she reads "Variations on Some of Dante's Last Lines." From Rosetta, she reads "Catasters," "amas," "N/M," and "A Floodlit Plate." Introduced by Aaron Shurin, at The Unitarian Center.

Norma Cole: December 3, 1998
90 minutes.
Poet and translator Norma Cole delivers the 12th Annual George Oppen Memorial Lecture on Twentieth Century Poetics. Her lecture, "The Poetics of Vertigo," is dedicated to Charles Watts and explores both the limits Oppen set for himself as a writer and the limits of one's own writing and reading. Jewelle Gomez introduces Cole, at The Unitarian Center.

Norma Cole: May 9, 2002
(see Group Readings, Crayon magazine reading)

Horace Coleman: March 15, 2001
30 minutes.
Horace Coleman, a Viet Nam veteran, "class of '67," originally from Ohio and visiting The Poetry Center from his home in southern California, reads "The World Runs Best When America Runs It," "Taking It to the Hoop," "Missing in Action," "Shy Town," "Just Another Trip," and other poems from In the Grass. Steve Dickison introduces Coleman and Benjamin Friedlander, at The Poetry Center.

Wanda Coleman: October 14, 1982
40 minutes.
Poet Wanda Coleman reads "Where I Live," "Blind Betty," "Luz," "Today I Am A Homicide In The North of The City," "Doing Battle With The Wolf," "Poet After Surgery," "Cousin Mary," "Dolls," "Silly Bitches Institute," "Mother the Flesh," "Tis Morning Makes Mother A Killer," and "They'll Starve You." Faye Kicknosway is the co-reader, at SFSU.

Wanda Coleman: April 14, 1985
64 minutes.
From Women Working in Literature conference, Wanda Coleman participates in "A Dickinson Colloquium," at Fort Mason.

Jack Collom: October 20, 1976
37 minutes.
Poet Jack Collom reads "Under the linden by the meadow..." (a translation of Walther von ver Vogelweide's poem), "Poem for '69," "Green and silver out the window...," "1964," "Spiritualism," and selections from the unpublished manuscript, Exchanges Of Earth And Sky. Lewis MacAdams introduces Collom, at SFSU.

Jack Collom: November 2, 2001
50 minutes.
In celebration of his 70th birthday, Jack Collom, author of sixteen small press books of poetry, reads to a packed house at the San Francisco Art Institute. He reads (and yodels!) from, among several books, the large new volume Red Car Goes By: Selected Poems 1955-2000, and is joined at the podium by Lyn Hejinian for a reading of their collaborative long poem, Sunflower. Steve Dickison introduces Collom, and Bill Berkson introduces Bernadette Mayer, at San Francisco Art Institute.

Roy Conboy: February 3, 1994
40 minutes.
Roy Conboy is the author of several full-length plays, including Dancing with the Missing and Camino Confusión, and the plays for young audiences, Tamale Caliente and No Más Sueños. He teaches at SFSU. Here he reads from the plays When El Cucui Walks and Tamale Caliente. Rosemary Catacalos introduces Conboy and Theresa Chavez, at J. Paul Leonard Library, SFSU.

Gillian Conoley: February 27, 1992
28 minutes.
Poet and teacher Gillian Conoley reads from her collections Some Gangster Pain and Tall Stranger, which was nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award in poetry. Rosemary Catacalos introduces Conoley and Ira Sadoff, at SFSU.

Conyus [Calhoun]: February 18, 1984
50 minutes.
Poet Conyus reads "Puttin' On Old Dog" by Sterling Brown, three poems by Langston Hughes, along with "The Land of Spirit and Light," "i must check on myself," "a poem can change you," "Scorpio Rising," "Executive Order," "requiem for tomorrow (for Bob Kaufman)," "miscegenation mischief," "coming from the south," "June 29, 1969," "redwood minuet," "upon leaving the parole board hearing," "The confessions of Miss Billie Holiday," "A Poem for the Cultural Hip Black Fakir," "The Way of The New World," and "The Great Santa Barbara Oil Disaster." Nzinga Asele is the co-reader, at SFSU.

Clark Coolidge: May 5, 1976
53 minutes.
"The word theoretician Clark Coolidge has hewed the common cloudy phrase, all manners, sentence lump, cement thought, Halloween movies and entire art philosophy language into a new kind of poetry which rocks while he drums." Here Coolidge reads from an untitled piece. Clark Coolidge is joined by co-reader Philip Whalen, at The Barbary Coast Room, SFSU.

Clark Coolidge: March 16, 1985
60 minutes.
Clark Coolidge reads from The Crystal Text. Jim Hartz introduces Coolidge and Barrett Watten, at SFSU.

Dennis Cooper: October 31, 1982
25 minutes.
Dennis Cooper reads his story "My Mark" from his first book Safe. Robert Glück introduces Cooper and Edmund White, at SFSU.

Dennis Cooper: November 9, 1989
33 minutes.
Horror fiction writer, playwright, and poet Dennis Cooper is the founder of the poetry magazine Little Caesar and Little Caesar Press. Here he reads a monologue from his play, Knife/Tape/Rope, first produced in New York City earlier in 1989. He also reads "Hitting Bedrock" and a selection from his novel, Wrong. Robert Glück introduces Cooper and William Gibson, at The Victoria Theater.

Jane Cooper: March 20, 1975
34 minutes.
Jane Cooper, winner of the 1968 Lamont Award of the Academy of American Poets for The Weatherof Six Mornings, reads "Eve," "Long View From the Suburbs," "a poem with capital letters," "Meteors," "Obligations," "Rock Climbing," "A Little Vesper," "In the House of the Dying," "My Young Mother," "El Sueno de la Razon," "In Silence Where We Breathe," "A Circle, a Square, a Triangle and a Ripple of Water," "Things," "Souvenirs," "Inheritances," "Waiting," "Poetry as Continuity," "The Earthquake," and other poems. Laura Chester also reads, at SFSU.

Stephen Cope: December 2, 1999
90 minutes.
For the 15th Annual George Oppen Memorial Lecture on Twentieth Century Poetics, Stephen Cope, Special Collections Librarian at UC San Diego, details his process of editing George Oppen's "Working Papers," previously known as "Day Books," a collection of Oppen's own undated notebook-entries concerning much of his poetic output. In his lecture "The Whole is the False: Oppen's Negativity," Cope focuses on notions of negativity in Oppen's poetry, as well as the fragmentary form of the writing. He also proposes connections between the poetry of Oppen, Robert Duncan, and others as models of poetic integrity. The result is a clear discussion of Oppen's serial writing, his work with his own notebooks, his editing, and his revision of published work-issues which Cope takes up to describe a quality of incompleteness in the poet's life work. He goes on to discuss Oppen in relation to the fundamental uncertainty in American experimental poetry after Pound. The lecture includes a visual presentation of some of the pages of Oppen's notebooks and culminates with a Q&A session. Cope is introduced by Steve Dickison, at The Unitarian Center.

Wayne Corbitt: November 12, 1992
25 minutes.
In a Writing and Community Series event entitled "Representing AIDS: Culture Struggle in the Gay Community," Michael Palmer moderates a presentation by writer Doug Holsclaw, performance artist Wayne Corbitt, and teacher and activist Jonathan Katz. Corbitt performs selections from Blackbirds Boogie in the Black Moonlight and the play Crying Holy. At Eureka Valley/Harvey Milk Memorial Branch Library.

Eileen Corder: July 28, 1980
50 minutes.
An ensemble of five San Francisco Poets Theater actors performs the play Mister Sister, written and directed by Eileen Corder.

Martin Corless-Smith: March 21, 2002
30 minutes.
The Poetry Center presents an evening with English poets Alan Halsey, Geraldine Monk, and Martin Corless-Smith. Martin Corless-Smith reads "When I Close My Eyes," "Colors that Do Correspond," "Flight," and other selections from Complete Travels and other works. Steve Dickison introduces the poets, at The Unitarian Center.

Cid Corman: December 13, 1978
37 minutes.
Cid Corman, the author of over 80 books and a seminal figure in the history of American poetics since WWII, gives his first United States reading since moving to Japan many years ago. He reads a number of books, including LivingDying and Selected Poems: Words For Each Other. Tom Mandel introduces Corman and Barrett Watten, at The Barbary Coast Room, SFSU.

Cid Corman: November 21, 1991
104 minutes.
A leading figure of the post-War literary generation, Cid Corman is a prolific poet, translator, essayist and editor. In addition to his more than one hundred volumes of poetry, he founded and edited Origin magazine, a central reference point for poets of his generation. In a rare appearance in the United States-his second reading for The Poetry Center, the first taking place in 1978-he delivers a generous retrospective of his long and illustrious career, at the Eye Gallery.

Lucha Corpi: November 30, 1989
42 minutes.
Mexican American Lucha Corpi is a poet, novelist, and teacher. She has published a novel, Delia's Song, and several collections of poetry, including Palabras de mediodia: Noon Words and Variaciones sobre una Tempestad. Here she reads her own poems in Spanish and English, some of which were translated from Spanish by Catherine Rodriguez-Nieto. Norma Alarcon, professor of Chicano and Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley and the editor of Third Woman Press, introduces and interviews Corpi, at the Blakeslee Room, SFSU.

Lucha Corpi: April 14, 1994
(see Group Readings, "Light From a Nearby Window: Contemporary Mexican Poetry" reading)

Fidelito Cortes: March 6, 1997
(see Group Readings, "Returning a Borrowed Tongue: Filipino and Filipino American Poetry" reading)

Jayne Cortez: April 12, 1985
25 minutes.
As part of The Poetry Center's Women Working in Literature conference, poet Jayne Cortez reads "Blood Suckers," "If The Drum Is A Woman," "Everything Is Wonderful," "Rape," "Plain Truth," "You Know," "There It Is," "Military Spending," and "Memo To A President." Frances Phillips introduces Cortez, Monique Wittig, and Olga Broumas, at SFSU.

Margaret Crane: September 28, 1989
60 minutes.
Margaret Crane, a writer who often collaborates with visual artists, performs "Roadkill" with Scott MacLeod. Robert Glück introduces Crane, MacLeod, and Carla Harryman, at The San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery.

Robert Creeley: July 15, 1965
The NET Outtake Series
45 minutes.
As part of the NET Outtakes series USA: Poetry, produced by KQED between 1965 and 1966, poet Robert Creeley reads "A Place," "Something," "The Woman," "The First Time," "The Ballad of the Despairing Husband," "The Three Ladies," and part of "The Hero." Creeley discusses the genesis of his poems, and converses with Bobbie Louise Hawkins.

Robert Creeley: November 15, 1973
28 minutes.
For The Poetry Center's "Twenty Years of Poetry" celebration, poet Robert Creeley reads "Flesh," "Spring," "But You," "Oh Mabel," "The Kind of Act of," "The Dishonest Mailman," "The Warning," "Dear Dorothy," "Dreams," "Shot," "Street," and "Falling." Kathleen Fraser introduces Creeley and John Wieners, at the San Francisco Museum of Art.

Robert Creeley: May 9, 1978
45 minutes.
Robert Creeley reads "The Door," "So There," "For Benny," "Things to Do in Tokyo," "My Self," "This World," "The House," "Flaubert's Early Prose," "Later," and "For René Ricard," at the Barbary Coast Room, SFSU.

Robert Creeley: November 1, 1978
(see Group Readings, The Charles Olson Conference)

Robert Creeley: March 27, 1983
20 minutes.
Robert Creeley and Gary Snyder join Thich Nhat Hanh in a Buddhist Peace Fellowship benefit. Creeley reads "Unknown," "This World," "The House," "News Of The World," "The Table," and "Heaven."

Robert Creeley: September 24, 1983
34 minutes.
Robert Creeley reads "Thirty Things," "Xmas," "For Tom," "Postcards," "Change," "Colors," "First Rain," "Memory," "The Edge," "Song," "The View," "Human Song," "Time for Willy," "Self-Portrait," "Expect the Unexpected," "Prospect," "The Sound," "Retrospect," "Money," "You," "Mother's Voice," "Dreams," "Outside," "The Visit," "Versions," "Death," "There is Water," "Age," "Box," and "Oh Max." Joanne Kyger is the co-reader.

Robert Creeley: October 20, 2000
70 minutes.
The Poetry Center, in collaboration with the MFA writing program at the University of San Francisco, brings Robert Creeley back to San Francisco for a sold-out reading in the 500-seat Gershwin Theater. Creeley reads from his book Life and Death, and from new poems: "Histoire de Florida," "Help," "A Valentine for Pen," "For Will," "Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang," "Oh Fame," "Possibilities," "Cambridge, Mass 1944," "Buffalo," and "Pictures," and entertains questions from the audience. Aaron Shurin introduces Creeley, at The Ira & Leonore S. Gershwin Theater.

Mary Crow: May 9, 1996
31 minutes.
Poet and translator Mary Crow received the Colorado Book Award for her translation of Roberto Juarroz's poems in Vertical Poetry: Recent Poems. Here she reads from I Have Tasted the Apple, a collection of her own poetry. Rosemary Catacalos introduces Crow and Stephen Vincent, at the First Unitarian Church.

Victor Hernandez Cruz: March 10, 1972
(see Group Readings, La Raza Reading)

Victor Hernandez Cruz: March 3, 1976
28 minutes.
Note: original tape quality is poor Victor Hernandez Cruz reads "Business," "Three Songs for the Fifties," "Looking for Good Waters," "Don Arturo Says," "The Latest Latin Dance Craze," "New York Potpourri," and other poems. Lewis MacAdams introduces Hernandez Cruz and Dick Gallup, at SFSU.

Victor Hernandez Cruz: December 11, 1981
30 minutes.
Victor Hernandez Cruz reads "Borinquens in Hawaii," "The mountains have changed to buildings...," "One for the English Department," "You Can Get Involved with a Dot," "Behold and Soak Like a Sponge," a series of poems on real and imagined herbs, and "Art-This." Tom Mandel introduces Hernandez Cruz and Fernando Alegria, at SFSU.

Victor Hernandez Cruz: March 3, 1983
35 minutes.
Victor Hernandez Cruz discusses a recent visit to Puerto Rico. He then reads from "Estudios Mentales I" and "Estudios Mentales II." He concludes the reading with the haikus "City News I," "City News II," "Andalucian Thought," "City News III," "Movement of Molasses," "Textile," "Iota," "The Physics of Confusion," and "Anonymous." C. D. Wright is the co-reader, at SFSU.




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