World Class Poetry Blog » videos http://www.worldclasspoetryblog.com Commentary On 21st Century Poetics Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:36:50 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 No More Waffling On Bukowksi http://www.worldclasspoetryblog.com/waffling-bukowksi/03/08/2009/ http://www.worldclasspoetryblog.com/waffling-bukowksi/03/08/2009/#comments Mon, 09 Mar 2009 03:53:45 +0000 the poet http://www.worldclasspoetryblog.com/?p=483 Over the years I’ve waffled on Bukowski. I liked him. Then I didn’t. Then I did. Then I didn’t. I could never put my finger on why I liked him. Nor could I put my finger on why I didn’t. I just knew that he was different and that was good. But there was always something bad not to like. I still can’t put my finger on it.

I remember watching Barfly back in the late 1980s. It gave me a whole new dimension to Bukowski that simply reading his poems couldn’t do. In the same manner, watching a video of Bukowski reading his poems brings something new to his voice. Even hearing him talk about his life. The interviews. All of it pulls so much in that a single poem or collection can’t do on its own. I’m beginning to like him again.

One thing that strikes me about Charles Bukowksi is that he doesn’t fit in anywhere. He’s been called a Beat, but that doesn’t fit. He has some things in common with the New York poets, but he lived in L.A.

Over the years there have been a spate of imitations and none of them are ever as good as the original. That may have something to do with my feelings about him. I like originals. I hate imitations. Even good ones, though I’ve never seen or heard a good imitation of Bukowksi.

I loved reading his fiction as much as I did his poetry, maybe even more. Post Office was a good read and it gave me a new perspective on Buk the poet as well as the man. But the following video is perhaps one of the best presentations I’ve seen of Bukowski in a long while. It is diverse. I can’t speak to the quality of the footage, but the production is well done. And the inclusion of Bono reading one of his poems makes it even better.

I hope you’ll enjoy this nearly 10-minute video on Bukowski, his life, and his poems:

I don’t have any Bukowkski videos up yet, but you can catch more poetry videos at World Class Poetry.

]]> http://www.worldclasspoetryblog.com/waffling-bukowksi/03/08/2009/feed/ 0 Poetry Everywhere: Don't Miss These Animated Poetry Videos http://www.worldclasspoetryblog.com/poetry-everywhere-dont-miss-these-animated-poetry-videos/12/07/2008/ http://www.worldclasspoetryblog.com/poetry-everywhere-dont-miss-these-animated-poetry-videos/12/07/2008/#comments Mon, 08 Dec 2008 02:54:58 +0000 the poet http://www.worldclasspoetryblog.com/?p=422 Regular readers of World Class Poetry Blog know I’m an advocate of using the latest technology to create and deliver poetry to the audience. A joint project between the Poetry Foundation and film students at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee called Poetry Everywhere and funded in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts has some of today’s top poets reading their own work on film. The renditions are mostly the poets standing a podium or sitting and reading or reciting their poems. But the effort is a high quality delivery of poetry that I believe will stand the test of time.

Some of the poets represented on video include:

  • Lucille Clifton
  • Charles Simic
  • Sharon Olds
  • Billy Collins
  • Adrienne Rich
  • Yusef Komunyakaa
  • Stanley Kunitz
  • Coleman Barks
  • Marie Howe
  • and Robert Hass

Special appearances have also been arranged by Walt Whitman, Robert Frost, and W.B. Yeats.

I strongly encourage you to take a look at these videos, produced by WGBH Boston and David Grubin Productions for PBS. You can find them at the PBS website. Take your time. Enjoy.

]]> http://www.worldclasspoetryblog.com/poetry-everywhere-dont-miss-these-animated-poetry-videos/12/07/2008/feed/ 0