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Etheridge Knight

PoemTalk #39, discussing Etheridge Knight's "The Sun Came" and Gwendolyn Brooks' "Truth," December 29, 2010

Listen to the complete recording and read program notes for the episode at Jacket2.

Prison Poems, c. 1968, from Indiana State Prison, with loud music in background

  1. Introduction (0:40): MP3
  2. Untitled (2:06): MP3
  3. Cell Song (0:51): MP3
  4. Hard Rock Returns to Prison from the Hospital for the Criminal Insane (3:13): MP3
  5. He Sees Through Stone (1:44): MP3
  6. For Freckle-Faced Gerald (2:12): MP3
  7. To the Man Who Sidled Up to Me and Asked: How Long You In Fer, Buddy? (1:05): MP3
  8. The Idea of Ancestry (4:32): MP3
  9. The Warden Said to Me the Other Day (0:57): MP3
  10. It Is Hard to Make a Poem in Prison (1:28): MP3
  11. Sweethearts in a Mulberry Tree (2:02): MP3
  12. As You Leave Me (2:22): MP3
  13. A Love Poem (1:33): MP3
  14. Poems for Black Relocation Centers (2:26): MP3
  15. He Died in Detroit (1:31): MP3
  16. For P.F.C. Joe Rogers (1:10): MP3
  17. For Malcolm, A Year After (2:04): MP3
  18. Portrait of Malcolm X (0:54): MP3
  19. It Was A Funky Deal (1:22): MP3
  20. Truth (by Gwendolyn Brooks) (1:29): MP3
  21. The Sun Came (1:41): MP3
  22. To Dinah Washington (1:31): MP3
  23. For Langston Hughes (1:30): MP3
  24. To Gwendolyn Brooks (058): MP3
  25. Apology for Apostasy (1:41): MP3
  26. Fire Dance (2:47): MP3
  27. Thanks (0:38): MP3
  28. Jazz (5:51): MP3

Complete Recording (52:29): MP3

"The Sun Came" is also featured on PoemTalk Episode 39.

So My Soul Can Sing: Etheridge Knight for Watershed Tapes, February 25, 1986

  1. Introduction by Gwendolyn Brooks (1:49): MP3
  2. He Paid Me Seven (1:10): MP3
  3. Wild Negro Bill (0:33): MP3
  4. Hard Rock Returns to Prison from the Hospital for Crimminal Insane (2:22) MP3
  5. He Sees Through Stone (1:04): MP3
  6. The Idea of Ancestry (3:19): MP3
  7. A WASP Woman Visits a Black Junkie in Prison (2:15): MP3
  8. "Beyond this green field" (0:15): MP3
  9. For Freckie-Faced Gerald (1:40): MP3
  10. The Warden Said to Me the Other Day (0:47): MP3
  11. Rehabilitation and Treatment in the Prisons of America (1:16): MP3
  12. Belly Song (2:59): MP3
  13. "Frozen Lakes" (0:25): MP3
  14. Yellow moon rise (0:10): MP3
  15. Two Hours I've Walked (0:07): MP3
  16. "Sigh, cry, broken hearted woman" (0:08): MP3
  17. "Say Mister" (0:07): MP3
  18. Circling the Daughter (4:53): MP3
  19. The Sun Came (0:55): MP3
  20. To the Man Who Sidled Up to Me and Asked, "How Long You in Fer, Buddy?" (0:36): MP3
  21. On the Yard (0:32): MP3
  22. To Make a Poem in Prison (0:49): MP3
  23. Genesis (0:26): MP3
  24. My Life, the Quality of Which (0:23): MP3
  25. For Eric Dolphy (0:28): MP3
  26. A Poem for Myself (or Blues for a Mississippi Black Boy) (1:29): MP3
  27. A Poem of Attrition (1:22): MP3
  28. A Poem for Black Relocation Centers (1:33): MP3
  29. A Poem for a Certain Lady on Her 33rd Birthday (0:47): MP3
  30. The Stretching of the Belly (0:56): MP3
  31. Upon Your Leaving (1:56): MP3
  32. Feeling Fucked Up (1:06): MP3
  33. Welcome Back, Mr. Knight, Love of My Life (1:48): MP3
  34. From the Moment (or Right/at/- The Time) (1:27): MP3
  35. For Black Poets Who Think of Suicide (0:49): MP3
  36. A Watts Mother Mourns while Boiling Beans (0:41): MP3
  37. For Malcolm, a Year After (1:06): MP3
  38. On the Birth of a Baby / Black / Boy (For Isaac Blackburn Knight) (2:14): MP3
  39. Birthday Poem (1:17): MP3
  40. Another Poem for Me, after Recovering from an OD (1:19): MP3
  41. For Mary Ellen McAnally (0:19): MP3
  42. Portrait of Mary (0:25): MP3
  43. I and Your Eyes (0:54): MP3
  44. Green Grass and Yellow Ballons (2:07): MP3
    Complete Tape, Side 1 (20:12): MP3 Complete Tape, Side 2 (26:59): MP3

Brooks' "Truth" and Knight's "The Sun Came" are both featured on PoemTalk Episode 39.

Reading for the Friends of the Scranton Public Library Poetry Series, October 8, 1980

Watch on Media.sas
  1. Introduction (5:10) MP3
  2. Hard Rock Returns to Prison from the Hospital for the Criminal Insane (5:35): MP3
  3. He Sees Through Stone (2:51): MP3
  4. For Freckle-Faced Gerald (3:56): MP3
  5. The Warden Said to Me the Other Day (1:34): MP3
  6. The Violent Space (Or When Your Sister Sleeps Around For Money) (4:28): MP3
  7. Cop-Out Session (1:38): MP3
  8. For Langston Hughes (2:33): MP3
  9. Apology or Apostasy? (3:06): MP3
  10. Rehabilitation and Treatment in the Prisons of America (2:26): MP3
  11. On racism and sexism in language (1:42): MP3
  12. Upon Your Leaving (2:24): MP3
  13. Feeling Fucked Up (2:03): MP3
  14. Dark Prophecy: I Sing of Shine (2:57): MP3
  15. Housewife (3:10): MP3
  16. A Watts Mother Mourns while Boiling Beans (1:38): MP3
  17. Belly Song (4:17): MP3
  18. On "The Idea of Ancestry" (2:44): MP3
  19. The Idea of Ancestry (3:59): MP3
  20. On influences (4:10): MP3
  21. On printed and spoken work (7:31): MP3
  22. On sound (2:46): MP3
  23. On relationships (5:45): MP3
  • Complete Reading (1:21:01): MP3

Etheridge Knight on PennSound Daily

Unknown Reading

  • complete reading (9:43): MP3

These sound recordings are being made available for noncommercial and educational use only.
© 2010 The Estate of Etheridge Knight. All rights reserved. Distributed by PennSound.