Readings and Recordings
of LZ
Despite
a reputation during his lifetime for being a neglected and reticent poet, LZ
did in fact participate in quite a few poetry readings, especially later in
life when younger poets sought him out. LZ was a fine reader of his own poetry
and there exist many recordings—the Humanities Research Center at the
University of Texas alone holds 17 recordings.
A
large selection of these recordings is now readily available at PennSound. Please note and respect that these
recordings are © 2008 Paul Zukofsky, and are made available strictly for
noncommerical and educational use through PennSound. No other use of these
recordings, including short excerpts of any kind, are allowed without the
written permission of, and payment of a fee to, Paul Zukofsky.
The
following is a chronological list of readings and public talks for which we
have a record. The primary source of this information is indicated in
parentheses:
CZ:
Celia Zukofsky, A Bibliography of Louis
Zukofsky (1969)
MB:
Marcella Booth, A Catalogue of the Louis
Zukofsky Manuscript Collection (1975)
CH:
Cathy Henderson, “Supplement to Marcella Booth’s Catalogue” (1987)
1937,
June 7. League of American Writers, radio station WOR, NYC
Notes
for reading from “A”-8 (from “The Labor Process” to “SOCONY will not always
sign off on this air”) and panel discussion chaired by Genevieve Taggart with
Horace Gregory and Robert Fitzgerald (CH). Some of LZ’s remarks are quoted in
Sherwood, “Introduction” to A Useful Art (1-2).
1938,
October 24 (9:45-10:00pm) radio station WQXR, NYC
Radio
script of broadcast for series Exploring the Arts and Sciences: A Reading of
Original Poetry by Louis Zukofsky
Excerpt
from “A”, Song 22 (“To my
wash-stand”), Anew 4 (“So sounds grass, and if it is sun or no sun”), Anew
6 (“Anew, sun, to fire summer”), Anew 7 (“When the crickets”) (MB).
1941,
January 23. Poetry Center, Young Men’s Hebrew Association, NYC
Outline
of talk on “Objectivists” Program with readings of poems: “che di lor suona su nella tua vita,” “’Mantis’,” from “A”-8 (from
“bringing together facts” to “Labor light lights on earth, in air, on earth”)
(MB).
1942,
March 23. Poetry Center, Young Men’s Hebrew Association, NYC
Panel
Discussion on Poetry in the American Way of Life, with Norman McLeod (Center
Director), Robert Goffin & Shaemas O’Sheel.
1947,
Winter. The Playwrights’ Seminar, Dramatic Workshop, NYC, Directed by Irwin
Piscator
Reading
of Arise, arise (Scroggins).
1954,
August 6. Radio station KPFA, Berkeley, California
Available
at PennSound.
Recorded
reading: “The Judge and the Bird,” “Spooks’ Sabbath, Five Bowings” “So That
Even a Lover 1” (Little wrists), “Reading and Talking,” “George Washington,” “Anew
37 (“The world autumn”), Anew 16 (“I walk in the old street”), Anew
22 (Catullus viii), Anew 25 (for Zadkine), Anew 29 (“Glad they
were there”), Anew 17 (Guillaume de Machault, Ballade: Plourès, dames),
“A”-11, “A”-9 (second half), “On Valentine’s Day to Friends” (CZ).
1958,
July 2. Little Theatre, San Francisco State College, California
Available
at PennSound.
“The
Guest,” “Sequence 1944-6,” “‘As to How Much,’” “Non Ti Fidar,” “Spooks’
Sabbath, Five Bowings,” “Songs of Degrees 2 & 3,” “An Incident,” “The
Record,” Poem 27 (“Blue light is the night harbor-slip”), Song 22 (“To my
wash-stand”), Song 28 (“‘Specifically, a writer of music’”), “’Further than’—,”
“’Mantis’,” Anew 6 (“Anew, sun, to fire summer”), Anew 16 (“I
walk in the old stree”), Anew 19 (“And so till we have died”), Anew
29 (“Glad they were there”), Anew 41 (After Charles Sedley), “A”-4, from
“A”-12.
1958,
July 10. San Francisco Museum, California
Same
program as previous.
1960,
November 3-4. Library of Congress, General Reference and Bibliography Division,
Archive of Recorded Poetry and Literature
Available
at PennSound.
Recorded
reading: from 55 Poems: Poems 13, 22,
27, “Poem beginning ‘The’,” Songs 3, 8, 13, 18, 22; from Anew: 12, 26, 29, 37, 41; from Some
Time: “Sequence 1944-6,” “So That Even a Lover,” “Xenophanes,” “As to
How Much,” “Air,” “The Judge and the Bird,” “Songs of Degrees 1-2,” The
Guests,” “Shang Cup,” “The Record”; from Catullus:
1-8 (2 versions of 8); from Barely and
widely: 7, 1, title poem, 2-5, 8-10, “4 Other Countries” (CZ, CH).
1961,
August 6. Les Deux Megots, NYC
Available
at PennSound.
Recorded
reading: from “A”-6, “A”-7, “A”-9 (second half), “A”-11, “4 Other Countries,” Catullus 22 & 29 (CH).
1961,
November 11. Recording made at LZ’s home in Brooklyn, New York
Available
at PennSound.
Catullus 1-46 (CH).
1961.
Interview with Robert Creeley for “The Single Voice” program on KHFM radio
(Albuquerque, New Mexico)
Available
at PennSound.
1961,
November 14. Bard College, New York (invited by Robert Kelly)
Recorded
reading: from I’s (pronounced eyes): “Ryokan’s Scroll,” “Homage,” “Jaunt,”
“Peri Poietikes,” “I’s (pronounced eyes),” “To Friends, for Good
Health”; from “A”-13 partita ii (from “Why hope” to “Look at the harbor,” from
“The man on a bench” to “Wha-at!,” from “I lived it” to “ere the day dawn”),
partitas iii, iv & v; from Catullus:
1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14a, 29, 31, 34, 42, 45, 46 (CH).
1962,
August 28. A & R Recording Co., NYC (taped for Stan Phillips)
Available
at PennSound.
Recorded
reading: “A”-13 partita i, ii, iv; “A”-5; “A”-11; from After I’s: “Atque in Perpetuum A.W.,” “Pretty,” “The Ways,” “The”;
from Catullus: 7, 8, 14, 31, 32, 37,
46, 51, 51a; from Some Time: “’Some
time has gone’,” “Sequence 1944-6,” “So That Even a Lover,” “Non Ti Fidar,”
“Reading and Talking,” “As to How Much,” “Claims”; from Barely and widely: 2, 4, 5, 8; from Anew: 2, 4, 7, 13, 16, 25, 29, 33, 35,
41; from 55 Poems: Poems 13, 25, 26,
27; Song 18, “’Further than’—” (CH).
1962,
November 16. Mannes College of Music, NYC (CH)
Recorded
reading.
1963,
May 26. Symposium on The Role of the Poet in Society, Spencer Memorial Church,
Brooklyn, New York with Rev. William Glenesk, Jules Feiffer, Norman Rosten,
Joel Oppenheimer and Paul Blackburn.
1963,
December 15. Lamont Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Recorded
reading: Song 22 (“To my wash-stand”), Song 6 (“—‘her soil’s birth’), “A”-13
partita ii, “A”-11, “A”-9, Catullus
61 & 68, Song 16 (“Crickets’”), Song 13 (“in that this happening”), from
“A”-12, “Finally a Valentine” (CZ)
Reading
the previous night at Adams House, Harvard University.
1964,
January. Five Spot Café, NYC
Reading
with Paul Blackburn.
1964,
January 30. The Guggenheim Museum, NYC (The Academy of American Poets)
Recorded
reading: “Reading and Talking,” “4 Other Countries,” “Peri Poietikes,” from
“A”-12, from “A”-13 partita ii, “Julia’s Wild” (“Come shadow, come”), Catullus 68, “Finally a Valentine” (CZ)
Reading
with Charles Reznikoff, introduced by Robert Kelly.
1964,
February 20. Long Island University, Brooklyn, New York
Recorded
reading: “A”-17, “Daruma,” “Old Poet,” “The Translation,” “A”-11, “A”-20, Catullus 70, 72 & 73, “tam cari capitis” (CZ).
1964,
December 10. Radio station WBAI-FM, NYC
Recorded
reading: from “A”-6, “A”-7, “A”-9 (second half), “Old Poet,” Catullus 22 & 29.
1965,
September 27-30. University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
Centennial
Seminar in the Humanities
Recorded
reading: “A”-15, “Julia’s Wild” (“Come shadow, come”), Catullus 67 and Lectures (CZ).
1966,
August 19. National Educational Television, WNDT, New York
Soundtrack
available at PennSound.
Video
recorded interview and reading at home (film released to other cities in USA):
“Poem beginning ‘The’” (First Movement), Robert Herrick’s “Divination by a
Daffodil” (included in A Test of Poetry
28, immediately preceding the following), “So That Even a Lover 1” (“Little
wrists”), “I’s (pronounced eyes)” (first section: “Hi, Kuh”) with
comments, “A”-9 (first strophe of both halves), Anew 30 (“Be happy you two”) and 31 (from “From my father” to end),
Statement on Bottom (“Bottom, a weaver,” in Prepositions), “Julia’s Wild” (“Come shadow, come”) from Bottom, “Songs of Degrees 1 and 2,” “Barely
and widely” (CZ).
1968,
January 30. The Guggenheim Museum, NYC (The Academy of American Poets)
Recorded
reading: from Catullus 64, from
“A”-15 (Iyyob passage), from “A”-18, from “A”-12, “I’s (pronounced eyes),” “To Friends, for Good Health”
(CZ).
1968,
March 4. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York
Available
at PennSound.
Second
Buffalo Festival of the Arts Today (broadcast over radio station WBFO, 10 March
1968)
Recorded
reading: introduced by Robert Creeley; from “A”-12, Catullus 63, Song 5 (It’s a gay li-fe), Song 24 (This Fall, 1933),
Song 25 (No One Inn), Song 27 (Song — ¾ time), “A”-11, “A”-19, “A”-9 (second
half) (CZ, CH).
1968,
May 16. University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
Recorded
reading: from “A”-15 (Iyyob passage), Catullus
61, “Man in the Moon” from “A”-13, “A”-11, from “A”-12, “An unearthing” from
“A”-18, “So That Even a Lover,” “As to How Much,” “Finally a Valentine,”
2 versions of “Catullus 8,” “Happier, happier, now” from “A”-15 (CZ).
1969,
February 29. Poetry Society of America, NYC
Talk
on poetry (Scroggins).
1969,
May 15. Round House, London
Reads
with Kenneth Koch at the Camden Festival.
1969,
May 20. Jonathan Cape offices, London
Recorded
reading.
1969,
May 21. American Embassy, London
Reading
(responses to questions appear as “The Gas Age” in Prepositions).
1969,
November 20-22. International Poetry Festival, Austin, Texas
Reading.
1970,
September 15. Spoken Word Program, radio station WNYC, NYC
Available
at PennSound.
Broadcast
9 November and rebroadcast 3 March 1971; also broadcast by Pacifica Radio
Network, Los Angeles and San Francisco
Recorded
reading: from Little: Introduction,
Preface, Chapters 4, 8, 13, 18 (CH).
1971,
March 31. Lincoln Center Library & Museum of the Performing Arts, NYC
Available
at PennSound.
Recording
of first performance of Autobiography.
LZ reads all the poems included in Autobiography followed by a
performance of the poems using CZ’s musical settings sung by professional
singers with LZ reading the autobiographical prose interludes (CH).
1971,
April 29. The Eighth Wallace Stevens Program, Dept. of English, University of
Connecticut, Storrs
Available
from PennSound.
Recorded
reading and lecture (revised lecture included in Prepositions). Includes readings of: from “A”-15 (Iyyob
passage), Catullus 31, from “A”-21, Rudens (Act III.6, Voice off), from Bottom:
on Shakespeare (from “Continents”), from “A”-22, from Little, from
Chapter 22
(CH).
1971,
October 27. Dept. of English, University of Connecticut, Storrs
Reading
(LZ Guest Professor during Oct.-Nov.).
1972,
October 12. Paley Library Cultural Series, Temple University, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania
Available
at PennSound.
Recorded
reading: Song 22 ("To my wash-stand"), Song 21
(“Snows’ night’s winds on the window rattling”), Song 13 (“in that this
happening”), “A Song for the Year's End,” Poem 29 (“Glad they were there”),
“Old,” from Little Chapter 4, from “A”-24 (Explanatory commentary,
Dedication, CZ’s Preface and Act I, scene 1, Cousin, Lesson), from “A”-24 (Act
II, scene 4 (from Thought voice)), "A"-7, “A”-20, Catullus 72,
87, 11, 45, “Sequence 1944-6” (CH).
1972
October 17. Glassboro State College, Glassboro, New Jersey
Available
at PennSound.
Recorded
reading: from “A”-22 and 23 (CH).
1972,
November 2. Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York
Available
from PennSound.
Recorded
reading: from Autobiography: Songs
22, 21, 13, “A Song for the Year’s End 1,” “Old,” Anew 29 (“Glad they
were there”); from Little Chap. 11;
from “A”-24: LZ dedication, CZ’s preface, Act I scene 1, from Act II scene
(from thought: pages 170, 171, 215-231; poem: complete scene 4); Catullus: 8 (2 versions) & 70 (CH).
1973,
October 15. The Poetry Center of the 92nd Street YM-YWHA, NYC
Available
at PennSound.
Recorded
reading: “A”-22, from Catullus: 8,
70, 73, 11, 45, 51; from Autobiography:
Song 13 (“in that this happening”), “A Song for the Year’s End 1,” Anew 29 (“Glad they were there”), “So
That Even a Lover 1,” “As to How Much,” “Old,” Anew 22 (Catullus
viii) (CH).
1974,
May 9. Franconia College, Franconia, NH
Soundtrack
available at PennSound.
Videotaped
reading at the invitation of Robert Grenier: Song 22
("To my wash-stand"), Song 21 (“Snows’ night’s winds on the window
rattling”), Song 13 (“in that this happening”), “A Song for the Year's End,” Anew
29 (“Glad they were there”), “Old,” from Little Chapter 11, from “A”-24
(Explanatory commentary—tape breaks off) (CH).
1975,
May 8. Turnbull Memorial Series, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
Color
videotaped reading: from “A”-22; from “A”-23; from Anew: 19, 20, 21, 22 (Catullus viii); from “A”-24 (CH).
1975,
June 16. Symposium to Celebrate the Ninetieth Birthyear of Ezra Pound,
University of Maine, Orono (15-17 June 1975)
Notes
for reading (CH).
1975,
December 13. Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
Available
at PennSound.
Recorded
private reading and discussion with Hugh Kenner: “A”-11,
from “A”-15 (Iyyob passage), “A”-20, from “A”-21 (IV.7 Voice off), Song
5 (It’s a gay li – ife), “A foin lass bodders me,” from 80 Flowers (Epigraph through #22 Bayberry). Transcription of LZ’s
discussion of #22 Bayberry in Leggott, Appendix B.
