Lunch Poems (Audio)

UC Berkeley's popular noontime poetry series is under the direction of UC Berkeley professor and former Poet Laureate Robert Hass and features renowned poets reading and discussing their work. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 53437]

Will Alexander has created a contemporary alchemy of surrealist vision in his own electric incandescent language. Coined the Césaire of America, his poetry is full of imagistic and intelligent unraveling. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 11958]

Born in Beijing, China, and raised in Massachusetts, Mei-mei Berssenbrugge molds language with seemingly effortless beauty and grace that invites the reader on a journey between worlds. She has published three books of poetry. Tune is as she reads a selection of her poems before a live audience at UC Berkeley. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 11158]

Mary Karr's work has been deemed "hardboiled, hardedged, hardbitten" by Poetry. Her allure is a gripping combination of savvy intelligence and an utter refusal for sentimentality. Karr is the author of four volumes of poetry including the forthcoming "Sinners Welcome" (Harper Collins, 2006), and the memoir, "The Liars' Club." Tune in as she reads a selection of her poetry before a live audience at UC Berkeley Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 11157]

A prominent figure in the wide-open poetry movement of the 50s, Lawrence Ferlinghetti gave voice to a generation that changed the face of poetry forever. Challenging the elite's definition of art and the artist's role, Ferlinghetti founded City Lights Bookstore, providing a meeting place for writers, artists, and intellectuals for over a half century. Ferlinghetti's A Coney Island of the Mind continues to be the most popular poetry book in the United States. His most recent work, Americus Book I was published by New Directions in 2004. Tune in for this reading before a live audience at UC Berkeley. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 11156]

California Poet Laureate Al Young has created a profound and enduring body of work that represents our time. Young's numerous publications in poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and for the stage and screen explore the American, human condition through the lens of the individual voice. Tune in as he reads a selection of his poems before a live audience at UC Berkeley. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 11155]

A range of Berkeley luminaries read and discuss their favorite poems. This year's line-up: Barbara Ertter (Jepson Herbarium), H. Mack Horton (East Asian Languages), Amy Kautzman (Doe Library), Elaine Kim (Ethnic Studies), Ray Lifchez (Architecture), Cam Nguyet Nguyen (Southeast Asian Studies), Bob Osserman (Mathematical Science Research Center), Laura Perez (Chicano Studies), John Prausnitz (Chemical Engineering), and Frank Worrell (Education). Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 9066]

Former Poet Laureate of the United StatesHass is a UC Berkeley professor who has made important contributions in poetry, criticism, and translation. His books of poetry are Sun Under Wood, Human Wishes, Praise, and Field Guide, the latter winner of the Yale Younger Poets Award. His critical essays are assembled in Twentieth Century Pleasures, and the poets he has translated include Czeslaw Milosz, Tomas Tranströmer, and masters of Japanese haiku. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 8469]

Charismatic poet Cornelius Eady uses deft paradoxes to meet the world's absurdities head-on. In a powerful reading of his own work, Eady recites like a jazz singer croons, emphasizing his poetry's hard-hitting content.

Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 7952]