Poetry out loud from Paul Muldoon and Bill Murray

In honor of National Poetry Month, a pair of FSG's wonderful interns—Angela, a contributor to this blog, and Aurora—have been helping us procure examples of verse on video.

Today's first clip is a heartwarmer featuring actor and comedian Bill Murray reading to construction workers finishing the Poets House back in 2009. "I agree with the top comment," Angela writes. "If this weren't on video, no one would believe it!"

  

In this second clip, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet (and poetry editor for The New Yorker) Paul Muldoon reads "A Hummingbird," a selection from his collection published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 2010. As Muldoon explains, in his delightfully rich Northern Irish accent, the poem is based on snatches of conversation overheard at a garden party.

 

 

An Evening Of Affection And Respect

I can't take credit for that title--those are the words that Poets House executive director Lee Briccetti used to introduce their tribute to Grace Paley, held in late 2007. Poets House was kind enough to share their audio with us, and I'll be posting selections from it all day today.

Here, poet Jean Valentine introduces and reads 'In the Bus,' including a funny story about visiting Grace in jail in Washington DC.

And here is poet Naomi Replansky reading several poems (including 'The Poet's Occasional Alternative,' which I adore) and speaking about the way New York City influenced Grace, and the ways Grace influenced the city.

"She would take realistic talk, intonations from the Bronx, or Lower East Side, or Greenwich Village, and heighten it until it became almost surreal."

Poet's House Showcase (Part 4)

Finally, the last words from the catalog:

"We look forward to seeing you next year, when we mount the Poets House Showcase for the first time in our new and permanent home in Battery Park City."

This exhibit will be open from April 12-19 at @ NYPL Jefferson Market Branch
  425 Sixth Avenue (at West 10th Street)
  For library hours, call (212) 243-4334
  Admission free

Poet's House Showcase (Part 3)

Don't tell anyone at FSG, but this chapbook really charmed me with the cover.

2008 Poet's House Showcase (Part 2)

Again, from the catalog:

"The exhibit is organized by publisher beginning with  0 to 9 Press and ending with Zone 3, the only hierarchy being the alphabet."

2008 Poet's House Showcase (Part 1)

I appreciate that this might sound especially nerdy, but I had a great time on Saturday afternoon checking out the 2008 Poet's House Showcase. (Yes, there was wine.)

As a visual representation of how significant poetry is to the publishing world, it's quite powerful--there are shelves filled with books, from big publishing houses on down to small publishers who only put out a book or two a year.

In the exhibit catalog, which is 63 double-sided pages, show coordinator Michael Romanos says:

"Of all the 2,128 titles documented at press time, 1,666 titles were published in 2007 and 462 in the first few months of 2008. Included in the exhibit are 566 chapbooks, 340 university titles, 150 anthologies, 24 multimedia works, and 176 poetry-related works of prose (biographies, critical studies, essay collections, and memoirs). There are also 96 works of translation, 48 of which appear in multi-lingual format."

I've got a bunch of pictures for you, appearing in the next few posts.

Poetry Events Of Note

I have big plans this weekend, readers, big plans. Since I spent the last Friday and Saturday night completely incapacitated with a nasty allergy, I have a lot of catching up to do with friends (including a Sunday reading at the KGB Bar by friend of the blog Bud Parr), I still haven't been to the new bistro that opened up in my neighborhood, and I understand there's a new episode of 30 Rock just waiting for me on a friend's Tivo.

In case you are similarly inspired, this weekend or beyond, to be out and about in the world, here's a few of the more exciting poetry events coming your way in the next few weeks.

• April 12-19: NYC is host to the 16th Annual Poet's House Showcase, a free exhibit featuring all of the new poetry books and poetry-related texts published in the U.S.
• April 17th: Paul Muldoon performs in my hood as part of BAM's Eat, Drink and Be Literary series
• May 1: Frank Bidart reads at the Art Institute of Chicago as part of their 'American Perspectives' events
• May 7: The wise and hilarious August Kleinzahler reads at Diesel in Oakland, CA, from his new book, Sleeping It off in Rapid City

And as always, if you know of a cool event that you don't see listed below, please feel free to leave it in the comments below or email it to me.