In this talk, Jane Hirshfield explores the poet Matsuo Bashō’s life and teachings, the inner workings of haiku, and the poems themselves, revealing both the continuing usefulness and the lasting exhilaration of Bashō's restless discoveries.

(Full Audio, approx. 1 hr. 10 mins.)

Part of Branching Out: Poetry for the 21st Century, a joint initiative with the Poetry Society of America, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

A reading and conversation about poetry, politics and translation with the dynamic Cuban poet José Kozer and the eminent poet-critic Ammiel Alcalay, with English-language readings of Kozer's poetry by Mark Weiss, translator of Stet: Selected Poems of José Kozer

(Full Audio, approx. 1 hour)

In this Passwords program, poet Wanda Coleman discusses the work of Phillis Wheatley (1753–1784). Born in Africa, Wheatley was kidnapped, brought to America, and sold to a prominent Boston family. She became the first African-American woman to publish a book of poems, and one of the best-known poets in the country.

(Full Audio, approx. 1 hour)

"Biographical-Historical Continuum" panel, moderated by Michael Heller, featuring Stephen Cope on Oppen's diaries and journals, Norman Finkelstein on the late poems, Eric Hoffman on Oppen’s political identity and Kristin Prevallet on Oppen's response to World War II.

(Full Audio, approx. 1 hr. 30 mins)

Readings by Stephen Cope, Thom Donovan, Norman Finkelstein, Peter Gizzi, E. Tracy Grinnell, Michael Heller, Erica Hunt, Burt Kimmelman, Geoffrey O’Brien, Peter O’Leary, Kristin Prevallet, Anthony Rudolf, Hugh Seidman, Harvey Shapiro, Lee Spinks, Stacy Szymaszekand John Taggart.