Since the early 2000s, Joshua Beckman has experimented with nature of performing poetry. He has traveled with gangs of poets around the country in a bus, reading in far-flung and unusual venues. He has written live improvisational collaborative poems and recently has given many one-on-one poetry readings. In this episode of The Organist, Ross Simonini speaks to Beckman about the way he reads and writes his poetry aloud, his favorite poetry recordings, and the many poetsâ€"Lew Welch, Frank O'Hara, Robert Creeleyâ€"whose verbal and performative antics have inspired him.

Joshua Beckman's Poetry Mixtape

For The Organist, Joshua Beckman selected eight of his favorite audio recordings of poets performing their work aloud.

1. John Cage - Mushroom Haiku
2. John Wieners - from Memories in a Small Apartment
3. Lorenzo Thomas - Anuresis
4. Eileen Myles - April 5th
5. Bernadette Mayer - 1979
6. Kenneth Koch and Allen Ginsberg - Improvisation
7. Helen Adam - Cheerless Junkie's Song
8. Yoko Ono - Let's Go Flying

Banner image of Lew Welch appears via the Poetry Foundation.