The Heart of Things
Adrienne Rich, Victor Hernandez Cruz, and Michael S. Harper have changed the way poetry is heard, read, and absorbed. This program showcases these three poets who exult in language’s ability to illuminate culture and history. Filmed at the Biennia...
The Field of Time
Two courageous women artists who have turned potential tragedy into triumph are testimony to the healing powers of poetry. In this program, authors Sandra McPherson and Linda McCarriston revel in the beauty of love, family, and nature, exploring and...
Here in the Mind
Gary Snyder and Daisy Zamora have each, in their own way, engaged in battle. In this program, the staunch defender of the natural world and the combatant in the Nicaraguan civil war wield their preferred weapon, language, which in their hands has th...
Swirl Like a Leaf
Poetry offers a way for individuals to make sense of themselves, understand their motivations and fears, gain insight into their past and their future. As this program shows, Jimmy Santiago Baca, Robert Bly, and Marilyn Chin have all found routes to...
Some Can Sing
Poetry’s ability to bridge gaps and cross boundaries is emphasized in this program through the works of Robert Hass, Claribel Alegría, and Carolyn Forché. Distinctly different in terms of background and style, these three artists are identical i...
Love's Confusing Joy
Coleman Barks has dedicated much of his life’s work to introducing the 13th-century Islamic mystic Jelaluddin Rumi to contemporary audiences. In this program, Barks brings the prolific Rumi to life in poems that are alternately ecstatic, wise, and...
Welcome to the Mainland
From the jazz-laced street speech of African-American poet Sekou Sundiata’s Harlem nights to Palestinian-American Naomi Shihab Nye’s delight in the wonder of everyday objects, this program celebrates the cultures of today—and the way those cul...