In his talk "The Vertical Elizabeth Bishop", poet Vijay Seshadri examines the origins and the scope of Bishop's visionary ambitions, her complicated, paradoxical relationship to the religious traditions that shaped her thought, and, finally, her ability to expose, in small poems and large, the fundamental questions underlying our experience.

(Full Audio, approx 53 mins)

Mei-mei Berssenbrugge was described by poet Jackson Mac Low as “neither objectivist nor subjectivist but a poet of the whole consciousness.” Born in Beijing, she emerges from diverse influences, from the artistic scene of her rural New Mexico home to the New York School and Language poets. Her over a dozen books of poetry include artistic collaborations with her husband Richard Tuttle and visual artist Kiki Smith. Berssenbrugge is joined by University of California Berkeley scholar Charles Altieri.

Poet Billy Collins reads his poems "Ballistics," "January in Paris," and "The Trouble with Poetry" at the 11th Annual Poetry Walk Across the Brooklyn Bridge

Internationally known for his “talk pieces”— improvisational blends of comedy, story and social commentary that have been described as a mix of Mark Twain and Gertrude Stein, poet David Antin will explore how language can be regarded as essentially political.

Simon Armitage, one of the pivotal voices in contemporary British poetry, explores the influence of childhood and landscape on the work of fellow Yorkshire poet Ted Hughes (1930-1998).

(Full Audio, approx. 50 mins)

Funded by the New York Council for the Humanities

Poet and translator Dick Davis expands our understanding of the period that gave rise to such voices as Rumi and Omar Khayyam by exploring several poems from the canon of Medieval Persian literature, including the Sufi allegory The Conference of Birds.

(Full Audio, approx. 1 hour)