KPFA-FM Music Dept. ➔ Words: Program No. 16: John Ashbery
Analog Audio
Event Type
Spoken WordOrigin
KPFAIdentifier
W.1969.12.22Program Series
WordsProgram Length
61 minDates
1969-12-22 | broadcast| 1964-08-23 | created
Description
One in a series of programs produced by Clark Coolidge that feature the works of late 20th century poets, sound poets, and authors. In this recording, made on August 23, 1964 at the Washington Square Art Gallery in New York City, John Ashbery reads a selection of poems from his book “The Tennis Court Oath,” as well as a rare recording of his long, award winning poem “The Skaters.” John Ashbery is one of the greatest American poets of the latter half of the 20th century, and has won almost every award imaginable, including the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award. The poems heard here, first published in the mid-1960s, represent his more free-flowing, experimental, post-modernist period, and are classic examples of the type of word play and humor that characterize much of his work.Genres
PoetryMusical Selections
The Tennis Court Oath (2:07) -- They Dream Only of America (0:55) -- Thoughts of a Young Girl (0:31) -- Rain (3:56) -- The Suspended Life (3:20) -- The Skaters (48:22)Subjects
PoetryAcknowledgment
Funding for the preservation of this program made possible through a grant by the GRAMMY Foundation.Related places
New York (N.Y.) (was recorded at)Berkeley (Calif.) (was broadcast at)
Related Entities
Coolidge, Clark, 1939-Ashbery, John, 1927-