Celebration of Emily Dickinson's Birthday

Held at St. Mark's Church in the Bowery, sponsored by the Poetry Project, on December 10, 1979.

• Introduction (3:23): MP3
• Jan Heller Levi (4:41): MP3
• Charles Bernstein (5:49): MP3
• Susan Leites (2:32): MP3
• Charles Doria (2:35): MP3
• Virginia Terrace (3:02): MP3
• Barbara Guest (8:22): MP3 Guest reads “3 a.m. Amagansett” and Biography
• Madeleine Keller and Vicki Hudspith (5:41): MP3
• Armand Schwerner (04:05): MP3
• Karen Edwards (00:57): MP3
• Jackson Mac Low (03:51): MP3
• Maureen Owen (10:07): MP3
• Susan Howe (7:11): MP3
• Jay Leyda and Q&A (29:57): MP3

• Complete Recording, Part 1 (48:40): MP3
• Complete Recording, Part 2 (48:20): MP3

Dickinson poems read by the participants (excerpts from their presentations):

Note: We are providing segmented recordings of individual Dickinson poems, below, primarily as an aid to teachers who are teaching Dickinson and would like students to hear poets performing them. We recommend, however, that the reading of these poems be heard in the context of the commentary each poet provided on this occasion, either in the complete recording or the participant-by-participant segments linked above.

1. "Wild nights - Wild nights!" [#249] (read by Jan Heller Levi) (0:22): MP3
2. "How the old Mountains drip with Sunset" [#291] (read by Jan Heller Levi) (1:00): MP3
3. "I cannot live with You" [#640] (read by Charles Bernstein) (2:02): MP3
4. "To fill a Gap" [#546] (read by Charles Bernstein) (0:16): MP3
5. "There is a solitude of space" [#1695] (read by Charles Bernstein) (0:22): MP3
6. "To make a prairie" [#1755] (read by Susan Leites) (0:13): MP3
7. "Of Yellow was the outer Sky" [#1676] (read by Susan Leites) (0:11): MP3
8. "The Definition of Beauty is" [#988] (read by Susan Leites) (0:13): MP3
9. "These are the days when Birds come back" [#130] (read by Susan Leites) (0:48): MP3
10. "She rose to His Requirement" [#732] (read by Susan Leites) (0:29): MP3
11. "A single Clover Plank" [#1343] (read by Virginia Terrace) (0:36): MP3
12. "Bee! I'm expecting you!" [#1035] (read by Virginia Terrace) (0:25): MP3
13. "Two Butterflies went out at Noon" [#533] (read by Virginia Terrace) (0:27): MP3
14. "Not at Home to Callers" [#1590] (read by Virginia Terrace) (0:07): MP3
15. "He fumbles at your Soul" [#315] (read by Madeleine Keller and Vicki Hudspith) (0:49): MP3
16. "He showed me Heights I never saw —" [#446*] (read by Madeleine Keller and Vicki Hudspith) (1:00): MP3 [*Note: This version is a slight variant of #446.]
17. "I would not paint - a picture -" [#505] (read by Madeleine Keller and Vicki Hudspith) (1:11): MP3
18. "I'm ceded - I've stopped being Theirs -" [#508] (read by Madeleine Keller and Vicki Hudspith) (1:13): MP3
19. "The Soul's distinct connection" [#974] (read by Madeleine Keller and Vicki Hudspith) (0:25): MP3
20. "They say that 'Time assuages'" [#686] (read by Armand Schwerner) (0:26): MP3
21. "I stepped from plank to plank" [#875] (read by Armand Schwerner) (0:24): MP3
22. "With thee, in the Desert -" [#209] (read by Karen Edwards) (0:11): MP3
23. "After great pain, a formal feeling comes -" [#341] (read by Karen Edwards) (1:09): MP3
24. "Because I could not stop for Death" [#712] (read by Susan Howe) (1:23): MP3
25. "Strong Draughts of Their Refreshing Minds" [#711] (read by Susan Howe) (0:30): MP3

These recordings are from the Maureen Owen Collection of Greenwich Village Poetry, at the Yale Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

"She rose to His Requirement" and "Wild Nights - Wild Nights!" are also featured on PoemTalk Episode 87.

These sound recordings are being made available for noncommercial and educational use only. All rights to this recorded material belong to the participating authors. Used with permission of participating authors and the Yale Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Distributed by PennSound.