Clarence Major joins Kevin Young to read “Downpour,” by Billy Collins, and his own poem “Hair.” Major’s recent honors include a PEN Oakland Reginald Lockett Lifetime Achievement Award and a Lifetime Achievement Award in the fine arts from the Congressional Black Caucus foundation.
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Jul 29
Richard Blanco Reads Elizabeth Bishop
Richard Blanco joins Kevin Young to read and discuss “Questions of Travel,” by Elizabeth Bishop, and his own poem, “My Father in English.” Blanco is the author of two memoirs and four poetry collections, including “How to Love a Country” and “Homeland of My Body.” He is the recip ... Show More
49m 38s
Jun 24
Richard Siken Reads Jorie Graham
Richard Siken joins Kevin Young to read and discuss “I Catch Sight of the Now,” by Jorie Graham, and his own poem “Piano Lesson.” Siken is a poet and painter whose book “Crush” won the 2004 Yale Series of Younger Poets prize, a Lambda Literary Award, and a Thom Gunn Award. His ot ... Show More
42 m
May 27
Julia Alvarez Reads Judy Page Heitzman
Julia Alvarez joins Kevin Young to read and discuss “The Schoolroom on the Second Floor of the Knitting Mill,” by Judy Page Heitzman, and her own poem “Mami at Her Vanity.” Alvarez is the author of many novels, nonfiction books, children’s books, and poetry collections, including ... Show More
39m 4s
Sep 2025
T. Coraghessan Boyle Reads “The Pool”
T. Coraghessan Boyle reads his story “The Pool,” from the September 22, 2025, issue of the magazine. A winner of the Rea Award for the Short Story and the PEN/Malamud Prize in the short story, among others, Boyle has published more than thirty books of fiction, including the stor ... Show More
30m 43s
Nov 2023
Teju Cole Reads “Incoming”
Teju Cole reads his story “Incoming,” which appears in the December 4, 2023, issue of the magazine. Cole, a winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award and the Windham Campbell Literature Prize, is a novelist, critic, curator, and essayist. His novel “Tremor” was published earlier this yea ... Show More
23m 3s
<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