Hearing poets read their work out loud really tests my powers of concentration. Not because poetry readings are dull (well...) but because I find poetic language incredibly distracting. Graham Foust says "gawky cross" and my mind wanders. By the time I refocus, he's on "mumble." Listening to readings on line allows me to pause, resume, restart. It gives me more time to consider the relation between what is written and how it is read. How a poet's breath brings lines together or pries them apart often reveals something new about a poem. All of this you can pick up at live readings but, like I said, I'm easily distracted. I have been enjoying as well Joshua Marie Wilkinson's "poemfilm journal," Rabbit Lights Movies. Some of these episodes combine poetry read out loud with hypnotic urban imagery. Other videos depict more standard readings (poet at lectern). Watch, listen.
A Voice Box: Bay Area Recordings of the Recent Past
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