Poetry (Audio)

Hosted by Robert Hass and University Librarian Thomas C. Leonard, this event features distinguished faculty and staff from a wide range of disciplines introducing and reading a favorite poem. This year’s participants: Justin Brasheres (Environmental Science), Associate Chancellor and Chief of Staff Beata Fitzpatrick, Donna V. Jones (English), Vice Provost Catherine Koshland (Teaching, Learning, Academic Planning and Facilities), Director Lawrence Rinder (Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive), Colleen Rovetti (University Relations), Debarati Sanyal (French), Associate Director Sanchita Saxena (Center for South Asia Studies), Director Alix Schwartz (Academic Planning for the College of Letters & Science), David Sklansky (Law), and Andrew Stewart (Classics) Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 24345]

“The Happiness Project “ author Gretchen Rubin talks about finding contentment in everyday life in this interview with James Fallows, National Correspondent for The Atlantic. Series: "The Atlantic Meets The Pacific" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 24361]

Acclaimed novelist T. C. Boyle presents excerpts from his new novel, “San Miguel,” a soaring narrative about two families -- one in the 1880’s and one in the 1930’s -- trying to start new lives on a windswept, near desolate island off of Santa Barbara. He follows with a reading of his gripping short story, “The Lie.” Series: "Revelle Forum" [Humanities] [Show ID: 24033]

Author Salman Rushdie shares details from his autobiography, “Joseph Anton: A Memoir,” a compelling account of his years in hiding after being condemned by the Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran. He also addresses the infamous anti-Islamic video that has sparked riots across the Middle East in this conversation with with Seth Lerer, the dean of Arts and Humanities at UC San Diego. Series: "Revelle Forum" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 24055]

One of the year’s most lively events, the student reading includes winners of the following prizes: Academy of American Poets, Cook, Rosenberg, and Yang, as well as students nominated by Berkeley’s creative writing faculty, Lunch Poems volunteers, and representatives from student publications.

Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 22620]

Why is Cinco de Mayo, a holiday commemorating a Mexican victory over the French at Puebla in 1862, so widely celebrated in California and across the United States, when it is scarcely observed in Mexico? David E. Hayes-Bautista, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture at UCLA, explains the holiday is not Mexican at all, but rather an American one, created by Latinos in California during the mid-nineteenth century. Series: "Writers" [Humanities] [Show ID: 23821]

Richard Berengarten (aka Richard Burns) was born in London in 1943. The author of more than twenty books, Berengarten has been something of a maverick in contemporary British poetry. Two of his books are regarded as contemporary classics: “The Manager” and “The Blue Butterfly,” an elegy for victims of a Nazi massacre in former Yugoslavia. A book of essays about his work, “The Salt Companion to Richard Berergarten,” has recently appeared. He is a Bye-Fellow at Downing College, Cambridge. This is his first reading in the Bay Area in almost twenty years. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 22619]

This reading celebrates the publication of “ascension,” the first book of poems by giovanni singleton, coordinator of Lunch Poems. She has recently been selected by the Poetry Society of America for its biennial New American Poets series. singleton is a recipient of a New Langton Bay Area Award Show for Literature and has been a fellow at Squaw Valley Community of Writers, Cave Canem: A Workshop for African-American Poets, and the Napa Valley Writers’ Conference. She is founding editor of “nocturnes (re)view,” a critically acclaimed journal dedicated to artists and writers of the African Diaspora and other contested spaces. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 22617]

Award-winning journalist Kathleen Sharp discusses her book, “Blood Feud: The Man Who Blew the Whistle on One of the Deadliest Prescription Drugs Ever.” This true story about a whistle-blower fighting Big Pharma over the anti-anemia drug know as Procrit, Epogen, and Aranesp or simply “epo.” From financial kickbacks to doctors, bribes and Medicare fraud, to patients doubling as unwitting guinea pigs for high doses of the dangerous drug Sharp tells a shocking story which is now unfolding federal court. Series: "Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 23748]

Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon was awarded the Cave Canem Poetry Prize for Black Swan, her debut collection of poems that mixes vernacular language with classical mythology, modern struggles with Biblical trials, and gives voice to women past and present. With her second, ]Open Interval[, nominated for the 2009 National Book Award, Van Clief-Stefanon “marries a wildness of vision with a lens-maker’s precision.” She is co-author, with Elizabeth Alexander, of the chapbook Poems in Conversation and a Conversation. She is currently working on a third collection of poetry, The Coal Tar Colors. She lives in Ithaca, New York and teaches at Cornell University. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 22616]