I081 Ful Questions That Draw the Poets out in Revealing
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POETRY ON RADIO I081 At that point he was blinded by the sun and snow and more than 6o cities. From 1984 to 1995 it was hosted and pro- could hardly read his words. Quickly he moved into a poem he duced by Rebekah (Presson) Mosby. knew well, "The Gift Outright," holding his head high as the The Poet and the Poem is a one -hour show broadcast words reached out. Frost also read on WAMF (Amherst, Mas- locally on WPFW in Washington, D.C., nationally by Pacifica sachusetts) many times between 1948 and 1962. Most of those Radio, and internationally by the Voice of America. From recordings are in the Archive of Recorded Poetry and Litera- 1977 to 1997 it was broadcast weekly, first on Thursday, then ture at the Library of Congress. on Sunday evenings. It has featured more than z,000 poets In the 197os, poetry's access to the airwaves increased with ranging from United States Poet Laureates and Pulitzer Prize the advent of National Public Radio (NPR). Since its beginning winners to unpublished and/or fledgling poets of consequence. in 1971, NPR has broadcast a number of shows that have fea- In The Poet and the Poem, host Grace Cavalieri first provides tured poets and poetry. Voices in the Wind broadcast begin- biographical information about the poet who then reads sev- ning in 1974 with Oscar Brand as host and included Nikki eral poems. A poet herself, Cavalieri asks probing and insight- Giovanni, Lucille Clifton, and Allen Ginsberg. Poet Speaks, a ful questions that draw the poets out in revealing and 3o- minute show that originated at WGBH, broadcast with informative ways. From 1978 to 1993, the program also Herbert Kenny as host from April to June 1972.. Guests hosted an all -day poetry broadcast once a year featuring 35 included Richard Eberhart, John Updike, May Sarton, and performers present. Titled Ribbon of Song, it featured Sterling Allen Tate. Some shows had very limited runs, perhaps one or Brown among others and the archival works of Paul Laurence only a few broadcasts. Spoon River Anthology was broadcast Dunbar and Langston Hughes among others. In May in March 1973 in four weekly installments, originating at (National Poetry Month) of z000, in celebration of the bicen- WGBH. The Archibald MacLeish Tribute was broadcast 15 tennial of the Library of Congress, The Poet and the Poem April 1981 with MacLeish and John Ciardi. MacLeish was from the Library of Congress was a one -hour weekly show also interviewed in Book Beat on 31 October 1971. Voice of with W.S. Merwin, Louise Gluck, Robert Pinsky, and Rita the Poet was broadcast 15 January 1975 with Jerome Rothen- Dove. berg and Marge Piercy among the guests. Some of the other Other contemporary shows of note include Poems to a Lis- shows that have featured or included poetry are Talk of the tener with host Henry Lyman on WFCR -FM, Amherst, Massa- Nation, Fresh Air, and Children's Radio Theatre. chusetts; A Moveable Feast with Tom Vitale and guests such as Allan Ginsberg, Charles Bukowski, and Joyce Carole Oates; Poetry on Radio Today Soundings with Wayne Pond; Bookworm with Michael Silver - blatt from KCRW, Santa Monica, California; Enjoyment of At the beginning of the zest century, Garrison Keillor hosted a Poetry with Florence Becker Lennon on WEVD, New York; daily five -minute radio program called The Writer's Almanac, Booktalk with Rus Morgan on WYPL, and The Book Show in which he notes milestones of the day and closes with a poem with Douglas Glover. or two. It is heard each day on public radio stations through- Poetry continues to be heard on radio in much the way it out the country. Occasionally Keillor also includes poetry in was in the early parts of the zoth century. It is heard on sta- his weekly program A Prairie Home Companion. Other short tions big and small, to inform and entertain, as filler, inspira- shows similar to The Writer's Almanac include The Osgood tion, and as something to soothe. As the internet becomes File with Charles Osgood, heard daily on the CBS radio net- more of a force in radio, more programs will be available live work, and Bookbeat, a daily report on new books and authors over the web. Recorded poetry as well is becoming available with Don Swain as host on WCBS in New York. on line, being broadcast, or "webcast." New Letters on the Air, the radio companion to the printed Perhaps the close and continuing association of poetry and publication New Letters, was first broadcast locally in Kansas radio should come as no surprise. The development of the City, Missouri, beginning in 1977. New Letters on the Air is a radio restored the power of the spoken word. Both are reflec- half -hour weekly show designed primarily to introduce the tions of the original oral traditions that gave birth to our liter- author with a short interview and then a number of poems. ary heritage. In the words of Archibald MacLeish, "The ear is Typically, the program has about 10 minutes of poetry, 15 the poet's perfect audience, his only true audience. And it is minutes of interview, and 3 minutes of introductions, credits, radio and only radio which can give him public access to this and musical bridges. New Letters on the Air has featured four perfect friend." Nobel Prize Winners, as well as 5o winners of various other lit- BRAD MCCOY erary awards, including the Pulitzer Prize. Approximately one - third of the featured writers are members of ethnic minorities. See also Canadian Radio Drama; Corwin, Norman; Drama, It has been syndicated over the NPR satellite and broadcast in U.S.; Drama, Worldwide; Playwrights on Radio .