Recorded by Michael Kleber-Diggs for Poem-a-Day, a series produced by the Academy of American Poets. Published on March 12, 2026. www.poets.org
Oct 2024
Ernest Lawrence Thayer's "Casey at the Bat"
<p>Though its author remained otherwise undistinguished, today's poem–with all its ecstasy, agony, and irony–has become almost as essential to the American experience as baseball itself. Happy reading!</p><p>Ernest Lawrence Thayer was born on August 14, 1863, in Lawrence, Massach ... Show More
7m 15s
Oct 2014
Becca J.R. Lachman, “A Ritual to Read Together: Poems in Conversation with William Stafford” (Woodley Press, 2013)
About twenty years ago, I heard William Stafford read his poetry for about twenty minutes. For a young aspiring writer like I was then, he was mesmerizing, a mix of poetic energy and grandfatherly wisdom, with a high-spirited charm. I think it was the first poetry reading that I ... Show More
37m 36s
<p><strong>William James Collins</strong> (born March 22, 1941) is an American poet, appointed as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Poet_Laureate" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Poet Laureate of the United States</a> from 2001 to 2003.<a href="https: ... Show More
<p>Bruce Smith joins Kevin Young to read “<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/10/08/open-letter-to-my-ancestors"><strong>Open Letter To My Ancestors</strong></a><strong>,</strong>” by Mary Ruefle, and his own poem “<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/09/ ... Show More
<p><strong>Today’s poems are by Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde</strong><a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Wilde#cite_note-3">[a]</a> (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900), an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout th ... Show More