From Publishers Weekly
This is the definitive anthology to date of canonical poets reading short selections of their own work. Though some of the audio here has been widely available for decades, it is certainly exciting to hear Tennyson, Browning, Yeats, Eliot and Co. reading their work and to read easily along in the provided text indeed, a huge first printing of 100,000 is riding on that excitement. Former Poetry Society of America executive director Paschen and National Public Radio reporter Mosby have assembled a very high-wattage team of living poets to write short essays on the historic ones whose voices we hear. The real standouts are about the less familiar of the latter: Rita Dove on the superb modernist Melvin B. Tolson; Forrest Gander on the magisterial Laura (Riding) Jackson; Michael Palmer on San Francisco Renaissance man Robert Duncan; Elizabeth Alexander on Etheridge Knight. T0 hear the distinctive accents and pauses of these poets 42 here in all, including the likes of Gertrude Stein and Robert Lowell remains truly wonderful. Paschen and Mosby's biographical notes can veer into shorthand platitude, but the initiated will be curious as to how poets such as Jorie Graham and Charles Bernstein approach Elizabeth Bishop and Ezra Pound respectively (though the essays are by design cursory). At the very least, those getting their first dose of poetry will find lots of names for further investigation. Charles Osgood introduces each poet's specific selections on the discs, which are complemented by further poems from each poet in the text. All told, while there will be quibbles about missing poets, this set evinces care, and will displace its patchwork of rivals for the foreseeable future. (Oct.)Forecast: Though it's being published in October, look for this set to be a huge holiday item and to begin showing up in public libraries almost immediately. For others, Tennyson's previously unavailable reading of "The Charge of the Light Brigade" and Langston Hughes's of "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" will be worth the price of admission on their own.Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Adult/High School-A cornucopia of pleasurable reading and listening that features the works of 42 poets. This anthology's high accessibility and its clean and unusual layout ensure its usefulness in most collections. Organized chronologically by the poets' dates of birth, followed by their pictures, a short introduction to their lives, a critical essay by a poet/essayist, some rarely seen handwritten notes, and several of their important poems, this offering would be enough to satisfy most readers. However, the package also includes three CDs of the poets' interpretative readings of these poems. These recordings reflect the pitch, intonation, and age of the poet at the time of the recording such as Robert Frost's gravelly voice, a young Sylvia Plath, or Dylan Thomas's singing cadences. The essays by such writers as Robert Pinsky and Anthony Hecht will be of particular value to teachers introducing literary criticism because their writing is so clean and uncluttered. In addition to the CDs, the poets' notes heighten the sense of the creative process. For example, Dr. William Carlos Williams used prescription pads to scrawl lines as the words came to him. These items punctuate the pages, letting readers know that poetry comes slowly, after numerous cross outs and revisions. The reason for omissions of such great poets as Emily Dickinson is obvious-this collection focuses only on poets whose recordings are available. A must for poetry lovers.Margaret Nolan, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VACopyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
In this anthology, which comes with three audio CDs, Paschen, a poet and cofounder of the national "Poetry in Motion" program, and freelance writer Mosby, editor of the Rhino Records CD anthologies In Their Own Voices and Our Souls Have Grown Deep Like the Rivers, present a well-balanced cross section of 42 poets from 1892 to 1997. The selections represent several major poetry movements, including the late romantics, modernists, postmodernists, confessionals, and black arts writers. Charles Osgood, who narrates the audio, offers low-key introductions that never distract from the poems at hand, all of which are read by the poets themselves on the accompanying CDs. Each chapter of the anthology proper is dedicated to a specific poet and includes a brief biography and an original essay from a contemporary writer. Al Young's essay on Langston Hughes, Joy Harjo's on Theodore Roethke, and Sonia Sanchez's on Gwendolyn Brooks are outstanding for their warmth, humor, and affection. Readers and listeners are guaranteed to hear poems in a new way after spending time with this book and CD set. Recommended for all academic libraries and public libraries looking to enrich their poetry collections. Pam Kingsbury, Florence, AL Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
The distinction between book and audiobook vanishes in this fine compilation of readings by 42 nineteenth- and twentieth-century poets, narrated by CBS newscaster Charles Osgood, and accompanied by a biography, text of the poems read and additional poems by each poet, and a critical essay by a noted living poet. The historical recordings of Tennyson, Browning, and Whitman, captured on wax cylinders by Edison in the 1890s, are curiosities, both for technical quality and oratorical style. But one of the delights of this chronological progression (by birth date) of poets is the evolution of reading styles, from the orotund to the naturalistic, with many sublime anomalies. Who would have suspected that Edna St. Vincent Millay would sound as histrionic as she does--while Dorothy Parker sounds exactly, exactly, like the voice in her poems. Osgood's narration may be a bit too dulcet for many of these poets and their poems, but editors Paschen and Mosby and series editor Dominique Raccah, working with advisory editors Robert Pinsky, Rita Dove, and Dana Gioia, have achieved a selection, content, and level of visual and sound quality that will make this a standard resource for schools and libraries, as well as for the devoted lover of poetry. D.A.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Book Description
Poetry Speaks features the work of the most influential writers in modern poetry—written and performed—from 1892 to 1997. This book combines their most significant poems in print with the authors themselves reading their poetry on audio CD. Poets range from Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Walt Whitman, T.S. Eliot and Dorothy Parker to Langston Hughes, Allen Ginsberg, Sylvia Plath and Gwendolyn Brooks. The power of spoken poetry is at the heart of Poetry Speaks. Poetry is a vocal art, an art meant to be read aloud. Listening to a poem read aloud can be a transforming experience. Poetry Speaks not only introduces the finest work from some of the greatest poets who ever lived, it reintroduces the oral tradition of poetry. Poetry Speaks features over 40 poets in chapters each containing: • The poems that are read by the poet on the audio CD • Additional poems in print form to allow the reader to further explore the poet • A short biography and photo of each poet • Original manuscripts and letters for most of the featured poets • An original essay for each poet written by today’s most influential poets, a veritable Who’s Who of poetry, including: Seamus Heaney on W.B. Yeats; Richard Wilbur on Robert Frost; Mark Strand on Wallace Stevens; Jorie Graham on Elizabeth Bishop; Glyn Maxwell on Dylan Thomas; and Rita Dove on Melvin B. Tolson. Poetry Speaks—combining the talents of great poets past and living, their words written and spoken—is the most ambitious, comprehensive and innovative poetry project to be published in years, and is sure to be the model for collections to come. Robert Pinsky, Rita Dove and Dana Gioia are featured Editorial Advisors.

About the Author
Elise Paschen is the author of Infidelities (Story Line, 1996), winner of the Nicholas Roerich Poetry Prize, and Houses: Coasts (Oxford: Sycamore Press, 1985). Her work has been published in magazines such as Poetry Magazine, The New Yorker, The New Republic, and The Nation and in numerous anthologies including Reinventing the Enemy's Lannguage and A Formal Feeling Comes: Poems in Form by Contemporary Women. Former Executive Director of the Poetry Society of America (from 1988-2000) and co-editor of Poetry in Motion (Norton, 1996), she teaches in the Writing Program at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Currently she is a Frances Allen Fellow at The Newberry Library. She lives in Chicago with her husband and daughter. Rebekah Presson Mosby interviewed more than 350 contemporary poets and writers as the host and producer of the syndicated radio literature series New Letters on the Air from 1983-1995. Since 1987, she has filed 140 art news features and six one-half hour documentaries as a freelance reporter for National Public Radio. She also free-ances as a producer/editor for Rhino Records. Her Rhino titles include the multi-disc audio anthologies In Their Own Voices: A Century of Recorded Poetry (1996) and Our Souls Have Grown Deep Like the Rivers: Black Poets Read Their Work (2000).

FROM OUR EDITORS

What a treat for hard-core poetry fans and neophytes alike! A truly remarkable anthology that offers an overview of 20th-century poetry's greatest works (plus a few from the late 19th century), Poetry Speaks also includes short biographies of the poets covered and insightful commentary by some of today's most esteemed living writers of the form, including Seamus Heaney and Robert Pinsky. The accompanying three audio CDs feature incredible recordings of Tennyson, Robert Browning, e. e. cummings, Dorothy Parker, Langston Hughes, Allen Ginsberg, Sylvia Plath, Gwendolyn Brooks, and others reading from their own work.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Poetry Speaks features the work of the most influential writers in modern poetry—written and performed—from 1892 to 1997. This book combines their most significant poems in print with the authors themselves reading their poetry on audio CD. Poets range from Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Robert Browning, E.E. Cummings and Dorothy Parker to Langston Hughes, Allen Ginsberg, Sylvia Plath and Gwendolyn Brooks.

The power of spoken poetry is at the heart of Poetry Speaks. Poetry is a vocal art, an art meant to be read aloud. Listening to a poem read aloud can be a transforming experience. Poetry Speaks not only introduces the finest work from some of the greatest poets who ever lived, it reintroduces the oral tradition of poetry, of poetry performed.

Poetry Speaks features over 40 poets in chapters each containing:
￯﾿ﾽ The poems that are read by the poet on the audio CD
￯﾿ﾽ Additional poems in print form to allow the reader to further explore the poet
￯﾿ﾽ A short biography and photo of each poet
￯﾿ﾽ Original manuscripts and letters for half of the featured poets
￯﾿ﾽ An original essay for each poet written by today￯﾿ﾽs most influential poets, a veritable Who￯﾿ﾽs Who of poetry, including: Seamus Heaney on W.B. Yeats; Robert Pinsky on William Carlos Williams; Mark Strand on Wallace Stevens; Jorie Graham on Elizabeth Bishop; Glyn Maxwell on Dylan Thomas; and Rita Dove on Melvin B. Tolson.

Poetry Speaks—combining the talents of great poets past and living, their words written and spoken—is the most ambitious, comprehensive and innovative poetry project to be published in years, and is sure to be the model for collections to come.

  Author Biography

Elise Paschen is the author of Infidelities (Story Line, 1996), winner of the Nicholas Roerich Poetry Prize, and Houses: Coasts (Oxford: Sycamore Press, 1985). Her work has been published in magazines such as Poetry Magazine, The New Yorker, The New Republic, and The Nation and in numerous anthologies including Reinventing the Enemy’s Lannguage and A Formal Feeling Comes: Poems in Form by Contemporary Women. Former Executive Director of the Poetry Society of America (from 1988-2000) and co-editor of Poetry in Motion (Norton, 1996), she teaches in the Writing Program at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Currently she is a Frances Allen Fellow at The Newberry Library. She lives in Chicago with her husband and daughter.

Rebekah Presson Mosby interviewed more than 350 contemporary poets and writers as the host and producer of the syndicated radio literature series New Letters on the Air from 1983-1995. Since 1987, she has filed 140 art news features and six one-half hour documentaries as a free-lance reporter for National Public Radio. She also free-lances as a producer/editor for Rhino Records. Her Rhino titles include the multi-disc audio anthologies In Their Own Voices: A Century of Recorded Poetry (1996) and Our Souls Have Grown Deep Like the Rivers: Black Poets Read Their Work (2000).

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

"This is the definitive anthology to date of canonical poets reading short selections of their own work. Though some of the audio here has been widely available for decades, it is certainly exciting to hear Tennyson, Browning, Yeats, Eliot and Co. reading their work and to read easily along in the provided text ￯﾿ﾽ indeed, a huge first printing of 100,000 is riding on that excitement. Former Poetry Society of America executive director Paschen and National Public Radio reporter Mosby have assembled a very high-wattage team of living poets to write short essays on the historic ones whose voices we hear. The real standouts are about the less familiar of the latter: Rita Dove on the superb modernist Melvin B. Tolson; Forrest Gander on the magisterial Laura (Riding) Jackson; Michael Palmer on San Francisco Renaissance man Robert Duncan; Elizabeth Alexander on Etheridge Knight. To hear the distinctive accents and pauses of these poets ￯﾿ﾽ 42 here in all, including the likes of Gertrude Stein and Robert Lowell ￯﾿ﾽ remains truly wonderful. Paschen and Mosby￯﾿ﾽs biographical notes can veer into shorthand platitude, but the initiated will be curious as to how poets such as Jorie Graham and Charles Bernstein approach Elizabeth Bishop and Ezra Pound respectively (though the essays are by design cursory). At the very least, those getting their first dose of poetry will find lots of names for further investigation. Charles Osgood introduces each poet￯﾿ﾽs specific selections on the discs, which are complemented by further poems from each poet in the text. All told, while there will be quibbles about missing poets, this set evinces care, and will displace its patchwork of rivals for the foreseeable future." (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

This is the definitive anthology to date of canonical poets reading short selections of their own work. Though some of the audio here has been widely available for decades, it is certainly exciting to hear Tennyson, Browning, Yeats, Eliot and Co. reading their work and to read easily along in the provided text indeed, a huge first printing of 100,000 is riding on that excitement. Former Poetry Society of America executive director Paschen and National Public Radio reporter Mosby have assembled a very high-wattage team of living poets to write short essays on the historic ones whose voices we hear. The real standouts are about the less familiar of the latter: Rita Dove on the superb modernist Melvin B. Tolson; Forrest Gander on the magisterial Laura (Riding) Jackson; Michael Palmer on San Francisco Renaissance man Robert Duncan; Elizabeth Alexander on Etheridge Knight. T0 hear the distinctive accents and pauses of these poets 42 here in all, including the likes of Gertrude Stein and Robert Lowell remains truly wonderful. Paschen and Mosby's biographical notes can veer into shorthand platitude, but the initiated will be curious as to how poets such as Jorie Graham and Charles Bernstein approach Elizabeth Bishop and Ezra Pound respectively (though the essays are by design cursory). At the very least, those getting their first dose of poetry will find lots of names for further investigation. Charles Osgood introduces each poet's specific selections on the discs, which are complemented by further poems from each poet in the text. All told, while there will be quibbles about missing poets, this set evinces care, and will displace its patchwork of rivals for the foreseeable future. (Oct.)Forecast: Though it's being published in October, look for this set to be a huge holiday item and to begin showing up in public libraries almost immediately. For others, Tennyson's previously unavailable reading of "The Charge of the Light Brigade" and Langston Hughes's of "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" will be worth the price of admission on their own. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

In this anthology, which comes with three audio CDs, Paschen, a poet and cofounder of the national "Poetry in Motion" program, and freelance writer Mosby, editor of the Rhino Records CD anthologies In Their Own Voices and Our Souls Have Grown Deep Like the Rivers, present a well-balanced cross section of 42 poets from 1892 to 1997. The selections represent several major poetry movements, including the late romantics, modernists, postmodernists, confessionals, and black arts writers. Charles Osgood, who narrates the audio, offers low-key introductions that never distract from the poems at hand, all of which are read by the poets themselves on the accompanying CDs. Each chapter of the anthology proper is dedicated to a specific poet and includes a brief biography and an original essay from a contemporary writer. Al Young's essay on Langston Hughes, Joy Harjo's on Theodore Roethke, and Sonia Sanchez's on Gwendolyn Brooks are outstanding for their warmth, humor, and affection. Readers and listeners are guaranteed to hear poems in a new way after spending time with this book and CD set. Recommended for all academic libraries and public libraries looking to enrich their poetry collections. Pam Kingsbury, Florence, AL Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

Adult/High School-A cornucopia of pleasurable reading and listening that features the works of 42 poets. This anthology's high accessibility and its clean and unusual layout ensure its usefulness in most collections. Organized chronologically by the poets' dates of birth, followed by their pictures, a short introduction to their lives, a critical essay by a poet/essayist, some rarely seen handwritten notes, and several of their important poems, this offering would be enough to satisfy most readers. However, the package also includes three CDs of the poets' interpretative readings of these poems. These recordings reflect the pitch, intonation, and age of the poet at the time of the recording such as Robert Frost's gravelly voice, a young Sylvia Plath, or Dylan Thomas's singing cadences. The essays by such writers as Robert Pinsky and Anthony Hecht will be of particular value to teachers introducing literary criticism because their writing is so clean and uncluttered. In addition to the CDs, the poets' notes heighten the sense of the creative process. For example, Dr. William Carlos Williams used prescription pads to scrawl lines as the words came to him. These items punctuate the pages, letting readers know that poetry comes slowly, after numerous cross outs and revisions. The reason for omissions of such great poets as Emily Dickinson is obvious-this collection focuses only on poets whose recordings are available. A must for poetry lovers.-Margaret Nolan, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

AudioFile