FTV 046 Women’s Poetry and Prose
From the Vault continues to celebrate Women’s History Month with a special episode dedicated to women’s poetry and prose. With literally hundreds of poetry readings by women in our collection, it was quite a challenge to decide who makes the cut for this special show, and who does not; we screened material from the likes of Rita Dove, Elizabeth Seargenat, Adrian Mitchell, Josphine Miles, Barbara Holland, Gwendolyn Brooks, Alice Walker, Adrianne Rich, Audre Lorde, Lucille Clifton, Claudia Rankine, Marilyn Waniek — the list goes on… ultimately, though, we settled on five of the greats: Grace Cavalieri, Anais Nin, Anne Sexton, Marianne Moore, and Maya Angelou.
Grace Cavelieri is the author of fourteen collections of poetry, and long-time producer and host of the Library of Congress’ radio show The Poet and the Poem, originally broadcast on Pacifica station WPFW 89.3 FM in Washington, D.C. Today, we will hear Grace hosting her radio show in 1989, and reading her piece Going South. She has been called one of America’s greatest living poets.
Marianne Moore was a prolific poet from the 1920’s until her death in 1972, winning in her career the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the Bollingen Award. In 1956, Marianne Moore was recorded in KPFA’s studios, in what we’ve come to realize is an extra-rare voice recording of this amazing poet. We’ll also hear a 1968 recording in which Moore reads her piece What Are Years.
Anne Sexton, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for for her third book, Poetry, Live, or Die, was regarded as a tragic poet for her often confessional poetry; it was her ‘night-time’ poetry that set the stage for Robert Lowell and Sylvia Path, among others. After Sexton’s death in 1974, Pacifica station KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles produced a documentary on her life, and featured a 1965 poetry reading for the Young Men’s Hebrew Association in New York City.
Anais Nin, feminist author and diarist, visited Pacifica stations KPFK and KPFA regularly, as early as 1966. The Pacifica Radio Archives holds over 20 recordings of Ms.Nin, but one stands out in particular: a 1972 KPFK recording entitled An Evening with Anais Nin, in which feminist artist Judy Chicago interviews Nin, and Nin reads from her work, The Diary of Anais Nin, Volume 4. We play this treat for for your listening pleasure.
Maya Angelou is only the second poet to ever give an address at a Presidential inauguration, for Bill Clinton in 1993. Hugely popular and widely honored, Angelou, nearly 80 years old, continues to be a force in the literary world, with recent talk of her hostiing a satellite radio poetry program. We go back to 1982, to an adress Angelou gave at the Los Angeles Community College entitled Sheroes and Heroes.
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