Poetry

Veteran music businessman Bill Alder, and poet Bob Holman are partners of Mouth Almighty Records which is distributing the condensed soundtrack of the PBS series, "The United States of Poetry", a MTV version of the spoken words featuring everything from rappers to beat poets. (the label Mouth Almighty, is distributed by Mercury Records, in New York, 212-333-8000)

Since today is traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year, we asked Robin Becker to read her poem Shopping. It’s about some of the darker reasons we head to the stores. She teaches poetry writing at Pennsylvania State University.

Nicaraguan poet Daisy Zamora. She was born into a well-to-do, upper-middle class family. When she was four her father was arrested for his part in an attempted coup against the dictator Somoza. Later in adult life Zamora was part of the Sandinista Revolution. After going into exile in Honduras and Costa Rica, Zamora was announcer for the clandestine Radio Sandino. She'll talk with Terry about her work with the voice of the revolution. Zamora now teaches at the Universidad Centroamericana in Managua, Nicaragua.

Poet and writer Michael Ryan. His first book of poems won the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award and was nominated for a National Book Award in 1974. Ryan's book Good Hunger won the Lenore Marshall/Nation Award for the most outstanding book of poems published in 1989. His new book Secret Life (Pantheon) is his autobiography in which he shares his experiences of childhood molestation and sexual addiction. (Contains brief excerpt of 12/12/1989 interview).

Writer May Sarton. She died of breast cancer on Sunday, July 16, 1995. For many readers, Sarton was a heroic figure for her decision to expose her lesbianism in the early 60s, long before society was tolerant of the gay life, and also for her decision to lead a life of solitude. The author of over 35 novels, books of poetry and essays, Sarton was probably best known for her journals, Recovering, and At Seventy. (REBROADCAST FROM 7/7/89).

Kenyon died Saturday of leukemia. She and her husband, poet Donald Hall, had both been struggling with cancer for years. Many of their works were inspired by their battles with the disease. Their last book of poems, entitled Constance, is about Hall's surgery and recovery. We replay our 1993 interview with the couple.

Lee has written two volumes of poetry, Rose and The City in Which I Love You. He's won many awards for his work, including the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship. He's just completed a memoir about his family's refugee experience in America, The Winged Seed. Lee was born in Indonesia; his parents were from China, where his father had been private physician to Mao. After escaping Southeast Asia, the family ended up in a small town in Pennsylvania, where his father headed an all-white Presbyterian church.

Poet Mark Halliday reads "Separated Father," a poem about the differences between familial and romantic love.

Merrill died Monday at age 68. The son of the founder of the Merrill Lynch brokerage house, Merrill traveled to Europe at age 24, a newly published poet "meaning to stay as long as possible". That was in 1950. His memoir "A Different Person" detailed his two and a half years there, and featured encounters with psychoanalysts, new and old lovers, and Alice Toklas. Merrill wrote eleven books of poems, and was the winner of two National Book Awards, the Bollingen Prize for Poetry, and the Pulitzer Prize. (Rebroadcast)

Carter has written eight books since his presidency, including several memoirs. His newest book is a collection of his poems, "Always a Reckoning: and other Poems." Terry will talk with him about his poetry, and about his diplomatic work, including the recent agreements he brokered in Bosnia and Haiti.

Doty won the 1994 National Book Critics Circle award for his poetry, My Alexandria. He is currently a Fannie Hearst Visiting Professor at Brandeis University. He tells Terry about caring for his lover, who died of AIDS.

Kushner is the author of "Angels in America," for which he won a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award for Best Play. It's a two-part "seven hour epic about gays, AIDS and Reaganism" (New York "Newsday"). Kushner reads a new poem, a plea to God about the AIDS epidemic.

Hemphill is the author of two books of poetry, "Earth Life" and "Conditions," and a collection of prose and poetry called "Ceremonies." He's also the editor of "Brother to Brother: New Writings by Black Gay Men." He reads an excerpt from his poem "Vital Signs," published in the collection "Life Sentences: Writers, Artists, and AIDS," edited by Thomas Avena.

Trinidad's latest book is "Answer Song." He and Dennis Cooper are co-editing a volume of selected poems by Tim Dlugos called "Powerless."

Cartoonist Art Spiegelman, author of "Maus," for which he won a Pulitzer Prize, and "Maus II." The two book-length comics are accounts of Spiegelman's s parents' experiences in the Holocaust. He is also co-founder and editor of "Raw," a magazine of avant-garde comics. He has now illustrated "The Wild Party: The Lost Classic by Joseph Moncure March."

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz is also a poet. Today, he reads an autobiographical poem called "She Forgets."

There's a new four-CD boxed set of Ginsberg's work, called "Holy Soul Jelly Roll - Songs and Poems." Terry talks to him about the readings featured on these recordings.

Sexton has just written "Searching for Mercy Street: My Journey Back to My Mother, Anne Sexton," her seventh book. She spent a long time coming to terms with her relationship with her mother, who committed suicide in 1974.

Commentator Maureen Corrigan reviews poet Peter Davison's account of the thriving literary scene in 1950s Boston, called "The Fading Smile."

David Whye is a poet who uses poetry to teach corporate executives and employees how to find satisfaction in the workplace. In his new book, "The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America," Whyte looks at the ways people can use their careers not only as a means to earning a living, but as a way of finding personal happiness. He has served as a consultant for such companies as AT&T and Kodak, and runs a small press in Seattle, Washington.