Event

POETRY-MUSIC COLLABORATION: A Workshop

WORKSHOP IN POETRY-MUSIC COLLABORATION
Well listen to some classic performances of poetry & jazz collaborations, dating back to the 30s with Langston Hughes poetry with jazz. Other poets and musicians of the 1960s with Beat Generation poets and their predecessors, Kenneth Rexroth and Kenneth Patchen. The listening will be accompanied by discussion of the value and difficulties of such collaborations/ performances. Well also talk about current performance and recording of poetry & music. Examples of hip-hop and rap music will be welcome. Then the workshop will turn to students practicing performance of their poetry. All the time remaining will belong to the students and their recitations and/or questions about all of the above.

THE INSTRUCTOR
Barry Wallenstein is the author of eight collections of poetry, the most recent being At the Surprise Hotel and Other Poems [Ridgeway Press, 2016] and Drastic Dislocations: New and Selected Poems [New York Quarterly Books, 2012]. His poetry has appeared in over one hundred journals, including Ploughshares, The Nation, Centennial Review, and American Poetry Review. Among his awards are the Poetry Society of Americas Lyric Poetry Prize (1985), and Pushcart Poetry Prize Nominations 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2016. A special interest is his presentation of poetry readings in collaboration with jazz. He has made eight recordings of his poetry with music, most recently What Was, Was (Audioscope, 2015) and Lucky These Days (Cadence Jazz Records, 2013). He is Emeritus Professor of Literature and Creative Writing at the City University of New York and an editor of the journal, American Book Review. www.barrywallenstein.com