Ada Limón shares poems that speak to finding a way forward through moments of crisis and struggle. She discusses Lorna Dee Cervantes on being courageous enough to be alone (“Crow”), the enduring relevance of poems written in a particular moment, like Mark Wunderlich’s “Peonies,” and Lucille Clifton’s anthem on need, defiance, and making it up as we go (“won’t you celebrate with me”). Limón closes by reading her poem “The End of Poetry,” published this spring in the New Yorker.

Listen to the full recordings of Cervantes, Wunderlich, and Clifton reading for the Poetry Center on Voca:
Lorna Dee Cervantes (1991)
Mark Wunderlich (1995)
Lucille Clifton (1998)

Listen to two readings by Ada Limón on Voca, including her most recent, which was given as part of our Art for Justice series in 2020.

Full transcripts of every episode are available on Buzzsprout. Look for the transcript tab under each episode.

Voca is now fully captioned, with interactive transcripts and captions available for all readings! Read more about the project here, or try out this new feature by visiting Voca.