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Poetry Readings and Spoken Word Audio Recordings collection
Special Collections and Archives
Poetry Readings and Spoken Word Audio Recordings collection
Special Collections and Archives
Poetry Readings and Spoken Word Audio Recordings collection
| Repository: | Kent State University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives. |
| Title: | Poetry Readings and Spoken Word Audio Recordings collection |
| Inclusive Date(s): | 1949-1974 |
| Author: | Finding aid prepared by Anita Clary |
| Creation: | Finding aid encoded by Anita Clary using the OhioLINK EAD Application in 2019 |
| Origination: | Kent State University Libraries |
| Extent: | 2 cubic feet (4 LP Record Storage Boxes) |
| Physical Location: | 11th floor |
| Finding Aid Identifier: | OhKeUSC0203 |
| Abstract: | This collection of spoken audio LP record albums was compiled from the collections of Kent State University Libraries and the Kent Free Library. |
| Language(s): | The records are in English |
Scope and Content
This collection of LP record albums includes a variety of spoken audio performances. Poetry, short stories and novels are read in whole or in part by the author or by actors. There are conversations, lectures and speeches, performances of plays and other literary works, and a memorial to Robert Francis Kennedy that includes notable speeches he delivered and excerpts from his funeral service.
Also represented in the collection are recordings from The Library of Congress Recording Laboratory; these are identified by the code "P L[#]" before the title. Albums from the 'Twentieth Century Poetry in English: Contemporary Recordings of Poets Reading Their Own Poems" series were accompanied by leaflets containing a biographical sketch of the poet, the texts of the poems read, and a selected bibliography. Unless otherwise noted, these leaflets are included in the collection. The "Leaves of Grass Centennial Series" includes lectures about Walt Whitman and readings of selected works as presented in the Library of Congress auditorium in observance of the centennial year of the publication of Leaves of Grass.
Statement of Arrangement
The collection is arranged alphabetically by author, followed by anthologies and The Library of Congress Recording Laboratory albums.
Technical Requirements
A record player or turntable is required to listen to the albums in this collection.
Restrictions on Access
Collection is for onsite listening use only.
Restrictions on Use
Kent State University does not own copyright to these recordings. Duplication requests are subject to United States copyright law.
Preferred Citation
Poetry Readings and Spoken Word Audio Recordings collection. Kent State University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives.
Controlled-access Headings
The following are found in this collection:
| Subjects: | |
| American poetry -- 19th century | |
| American poetry -- 20th century | |
| American poetry -- African American authors | |
| American literature -- 19th century | |
| American literature -- 20th century | |
| Persons: | |
| Auden, W. H. (Wystan Hugh), 1907-1973 | |
| Baldwin, James, 1924-1987 | |
| Blake, William, 1757-1827 | |
| Browning, Robert, 1812-1889 | |
| Cummings, E. E. (Edward Estlin), 1894-1962 | |
| De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956 | |
| Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870 | |
| Faulkner, William, 1897-1962 | |
| Hardy, Thomas, 1840-1928 | |
| Heller, Joseph | |
| Jacobson, Dan, 1929-2014 | |
| Kennedy, Robert F., 1925-1968 | |
| Lawrence, D. H. (David Herbert), 1885-1930 | |
| Lindsay, Vachel, 1879-1931 | |
| Masters, Edgar Lee, 1868-1950 | |
| Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis), 1880-1956 | |
| Millay, Edna St. Vincent, 1892-1950 | |
| Nash, Ogden, 1902-1971 | |
| O'Casey, Sean, 1880-1964 | |
| O'Neill, Eugene, 1888-1953 | |
| Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809-1849 | |
| Sandburg, Carl, 1878-1967 | |
| Shaw, Bernard, 1856-1950 | |
| Stein, Gertrude, 1874-1946 | |
| Stevens, Wallace, 1879-1955 | |
| Synge, J. M. (John Millington), 1871-1909 | |
| Warren, Robert Penn, 1905-1989 | |
| Welty, Eudora, 1909-2001 | |
| Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892 | |
| Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900 | |
| Williams, Tennessee, 1911-1983 | |
| Organizations/Corporations: | |
| Library of Congress. Recording Laboratory | |
| Functions: | |
| Authorship | |
| Oral interpretation of poetry | |
| Occupations: | |
| Authors | |
| Material Types: | |
| Long-playing records | |
| Spoken word | |
| Poetry readings (Sound recordings) | |
| Poetry | |
| Short stories | |
| Novels | |
| Speeches | |
Detailed Description of the Collection
| Box 1 / Folder 1 |
| W. H. Auden reading his poems, 1954 |
| Scope and Content | |
| Recorded in New York, December 12, 1953. | |
| Box 1 / Folder 2 |
| James Baldwin reading from Giovanni's Room and Another Country, undated |
| Box 1 / Folder 3 |
| William Blake, poetry read by Sir Ralph Richardson, 1958 |
| Box 1 / Folder 4 |
| Robert Browning, poetry read by James Mason, 1956 |
| Box 1 / Folder 5 |
| E. E. Cummings, six nonlectures: one - i & my parents, 1965 |
| Scope and Content | |
| Recorded at Harvard University, 1952-53. | |
| Box 1 / Folder 6 |
| E. E. Cummings, six nonlectures: two - i & their son, 1965 |
| Scope and Content | |
| Recorded at Harvard University, 1952-53. | |
| Box 1 / Folder 7 |
| E. E. Cummings, six nonlectures: three - i & selfdiscovery, 1965 |
| Scope and Content | |
| Recorded at Harvard University, 1952-53. | |
| Box 1 / Folder 8 |
| E. E. Cummings, six nonlectures: four - i & you & is, 1965 |
| Scope and Content | |
| Recorded at Harvard University, 1952-53. | |
| Box 1 / Folder 9 |
| E. E. Cummings, six nonlectures: five - i & now & him, 1965 |
| Scope and Content | |
| Recorded at Harvard University, 1952-53. | |
| Box 1 / Folder 10 |
| E. E. Cummings, six nonlectures: six - i & am & santa claus, 1965 |
| Scope and Content | |
| Recorded at Harvard University, 1952-53. | |
| Box 1 / Folder 11 |
| Walter de la Mare speaking and reading, undated |
| Scope and Content | |
| Recorded in London, September 20, 1955. | |
| Box 1 / Folder 12 |
| Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist, narrated by James Mason, 1962 |
| Box 1 / Folder 13 |
| William Falkner reading from his works, undated |
| Scope and Content | |
| The Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech and selections from As I Lay Dying, A Fable, and The Old Man. Recorded in New York on September 30, 1954. | |
| Box 1 / Folder 14 |
| William Faulkner reads from his works, undated |
| Scope and Content | |
| Selections from The Sound and the Fury and Light in August. | |
| Box 1 / Folder 15 |
| Thomas Hardy, poetry read by Richard Burton, undated |
| Box 1 / Folder 16 |
| Joseph Heller reads Catch-22, 1974 |
| Box 1 / Folder 17 |
| Dan Jacobson, The Zulu and the Zayda, undated |
| Scope and Content | |
| A play with music, featuring the original Broadway cast. The play opened at the Cort Theatre in New York City on November 10, 1965. | |
| Box 2 / Folder 1 |
| Kafka, stories read in English by Lotte Lenya, 1958 |
| Box 2 / Folder 2 |
| Robert Francis Kennedy: A Memorial, 1968 |
| Scope and Content | |
| Two albums. Album 1 "In his own words" contains recordings of Robert F. Kennedy's speeches; album 2 has excerpts from his funeral service. | |
| Box 2 / Folder 3 |
| D. H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley's Lover, read by Pamela Brown, 1959 |
| Box 2 / Folder 4 |
| Vachel Lindsay reading "The Congo," "Chinese Nightingale," and other poems, undated |
| Scope and Content | |
| Recorded in New York in 1931. | |
| Box 2 / Folder 5 |
| Edgar Lee Masters, Spoon River Anthology, undated |
| Scope and Content | |
| Performed by Julie Harris and townspeople of Milwaukee. | |
| Box 2 / Folder 6 |
| H. L. Mencken speaking, 1957 |
| Scope and Content | |
| A conversation with Donald Howe Kirkley, Sr. of The Sun, Baltimore. Recorded June 30, 1948. | |
| Box 2 / Folder 7 |
| Edna St. Vincent Millay reading her poetry, undated |
| Scope and Content | |
| Recorded in New York, 1941. | |
| Box 2 / Folder 8 |
| Ogden Nash reads Ogden Nash, undated |
| Scope and Content | |
| Recorded in New York, February 25, 1953. | |
| Box 2 / Folder 9 |
| Sean O'Casey reading from his works, undated |
| Scope and Content | |
| Scenes from Juno and the Paycock, Pictures in the Hallway, and Inishfallen, Fare Thee Well. Recorded at his home in Totnes, Devon, November 12, 1952. | |
| Alternate Form Available | |
| A cassette copy of this LP is available. Special Collections staff, see Location Guide for details on cassette copies. | |
| Box 2 / Folder 10 |
| Eugene O'Neill, dramatic readings by Jason Robards, Jr., undated |
| Scope and Content | |
| Selections from Long Day's Journey Into Night, A Moon for the Misbegotten, The Hairy Ape, and The Iceman Cometh. | |
| Box 2 / Folder 11 |
| Eugene O'Neill, Hughie, undated |
| Scope and Content | |
| Performed by Jason Robards with Jack Dodson. | |
| Box 2 / Folder 12 |
| Edgar Allan Poe read by Basil Rathbone, Volume 1, undated |
| Scope and Content | |
| "The Raven," "Annabel Lee," and other tales. | |
| Box 2 / Folder 13 |
| Edgar Allan Poe read by Basil Rathbone, Volume 2, 1960 |
| Scope and Content | |
| "The Cask of Amontillado," "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar," and "The Pit and the Pendulum." | |
| Box 2 / Folder 14 |
| Edgar Allan Poe read by Basil Rathbone, Volume 3, 1965 |
| Scope and Content | |
| "The Telltale Heart," "The Fall of the House of Usher," and other tales. | |
| Box 2 / Folder 15 |
| Carl Sandburg reading "Fog" and other poems, 1968 |
| Box 3 / Folder 1 |
| Bernard Shaw, Don Juan in Hell, 1952 |
| Scope and Content | |
| Performed by the First Drama Quartette, starring Charles Boyer, Charles Laughton, Cedric Hardwicke, and Agnes Moorehead. Two albums. | |
| Box 3 / Folder 2 |
| The Bernard Shaw-Ellen Terry Letters, 1959 |
| Scope and Content | |
| Read by Dame Peggy Ashcroft and Cyril Cusack. | |
| Box 3 / Folder 3 |
| Percy Bysshe Shelley, poems read by Vincent Price, 1962 |
| Box 3 / Folder 4 |
| Gertrude Stein read by Gertrude Stein, undated |
| Scope and Content | |
| No album cover included. | |
| Alternate Form Available | |
| A cassette copy of this LP is available. Special Collections staff, see Location Guide for details on cassette copies. | |
| Box 3 / Folder 5 |
| Wallace Stevens reading his poems, undated |
| Box 3 / Folder 6 |
| John Millington Synge, "Riders to the Sea" and "In the Shadow of the Glen", undated |
| Scope and Content | |
| A Radio Eireann Players Production presented by Arthur Luce Klein. | |
| Box 3 / Folder 7 |
| Robert Penn Warren reads his poetry, 1971 |
| Box 3 / Folder 8 |
| Eudora Welty reading from her works (copy 1), undated |
| Scope and Content | |
| "Why I Live at the P.O.," "A Worn Path," and "A Memory." Recorded in New York, October 1952. | |
| Alternate Form Available | |
| A cassette copy of this LP is available. Special Collections staff, see Location Guide for details on cassette copies. | |
| Box 3 / Folder 9 |
| Eudora Welty reading from her works (copy 2), undated |
| Scope and Content | |
| "Why I Live at the P.O.," "A Worn Path," and "A Memory." Recorded in New York, October 1952. | |
| Alternate Form Available | |
| A cassette copy of this LP is available. Special Collections staff, see Location Guide for details on cassette copies. | |
| Box 3 / Folder 10 |
| Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, read by Ed Begley, 1959 |
| Box 3 / Folder 11 |
| Oscar Wilde, The Importance of being Earnest, undated |
| Scope and Content | |
| Performed by Sir John Gielgud, Dame Edith Evans, Pamela Brown, and others. Two albums. | |
| Box 3 / Folder 12 |
| Tennessee Williams reading from his works, 1952 |
| Scope and Content | |
| Scenes from The Glass Menagerie, short story "The Yellow Bird," and poems. Recorded in New York, June 6, 1952. | |
| Alternate Form Available | |
| A cassette copy of this LP is available. Special Collections staff, see Location Guide for details on cassette copies. | |
| Box 3 / Folder 13 |
| Anthology of Negro Poets, undated |
| Scope and Content | |
| Readings by Langston Hughes (recorded in 1953); Sterling Brown (recorded in early 1940s); Claude McKay (recorded in early 1940s); Countee Cullen (recorded in 1930s); Gwendolyn Brooks (recorded in 1954); and Margaret Walker (recorded in 1954). | |
| Box 3 / Folder 14 |
| Poetry Parade: Poets Read Their Poetry For Children, 1967 |
| Scope and Content | |
| David McCord, Harry Behn, Karla Kuskin, and Aileen Fisher. Two albums. | |
| Box 3 / Folder 15 |
| Three Hundred Years of Great American Poetry, 1962 |
| Scope and Content | |
| From Anne Bradstreet through Stephen Crane, read by Vincent Price, Julie Harris, Eddie Albert, Helen Gahagan Douglas, and Ed Begley. Two albums. | |
| Box 4 / Folder 1 |
| P L1 - Katherine Garrison Chapin, Mark Van Doren, Wystan Hugh Auden, and Richard Eberhart, 1949 |
| Alternate Form Available | |
| A cassette copy of this LP is available. Special Collections staff, see Location Guide for details on cassette copies. | |
| Box 4 / Folder 2 |
| P L2 - Louise Bogan, Paul Engle, Marianne Moore, and Allen Tate, 1949 |
| Alternate Form Available | |
| A cassette copy of this LP is available. Special Collections staff, see Location Guide for details on cassette copies. | |
| Box 4 / Folder 3 |
| P L4 - John Gould Fletcher, John Malcolm Brinnin, William Carlos Williams, and Robert Penn Warren, 1949 |
| Alternate Form Available | |
| A cassette copy of this LP is available. Special Collections staff, see Location Guide for details on cassette copies. | |
| Box 4 / Folder 4 |
| P L6 - Robert Frost, undated |
| Scope and Content | |
| There is no leaflet for this album. | |
| Alternate Form Available | |
| A cassette copy of this LP is available. Special Collections staff, see Location Guide for details on cassette copies. | |
| Box 4 / Folder 5 |
| P L7 - William Meredith, Yvor Winters, Randall Jarrell, and Karl Shapiro, undated |
| Scope and Content | |
| There is no leaflet for this album. | |
| Alternate Form Available | |
| A cassette copy of this LP is available. Special Collections staff, see Location Guide for details on cassette copies. | |
| Box 4 / Folder 6 |
| P L8 - Herbert Read, Phelps Putnam, John Berryman, and Horace Gregory, 1952 |
| Box 4 / Folder 7 |
| P L9 - Delmore Schwartz, Richard Blackmur, Stephen Spender, and Elizabeth Bishop, 1952 |
| Alternate Form Available | |
| A cassette copy of this LP is available. Special Collections staff, see Location Guide for details on cassette copies. | |
| Box 4 / Folder 8 |
| P L10 - Theodore Roethke, Witter Bynner, Robert Fitzgerald, and Marya Zaturenska, 1952 |
| Alternate Form Available | |
| A cassette copy of this LP is available. Special Collections staff, see Location Guide for details on cassette copies. | |
| Box 4 / Folder 9 |
| P L11 - Robert Lowell, Conrad Aiken, William Empson, and Archibald MacLeish, undated |
| Scope and Content | |
| There is no leaflet for this album. | |
| Alternate Form Available | |
| A cassette copy of this LP is available. Special Collections staff, see Location Guide for details on cassette copies. | |
| Box 4 / Folder 10 |
| P L12 - Muriel Rukeyser, Howard Baker, Leonie Adams, and Janet Lewis, 1952 |
| Alternate Form Available | |
| A cassette copy of this LP is available. Special Collections staff, see Location Guide for details on cassette copies. | |
| Box 4 / Folder 11 |
| P L13 - A Lecture: Whitman the Man, by Gay Wilson Allen, January 10, 1955 |
| Alternate Form Available | |
| A cassette copy of this LP is available. Special Collections staff, see Location Guide for details on cassette copies. | |
| Box 4 / Folder 12 |
| P L14 - A Lecture: Whitman the Poet, by Mark Van Doren, January 17, 1955 |
| Alternate Form Available | |
| A cassette copy of this LP is available. Special Collections staff, see Location Guide for details on cassette copies. | |
| Box 4 / Folder 13 |
| P L15 - A Lecture: Whitman the Philosopher, by David Daiches, January 24, 1955 |
| Alternate Form Available | |
| A cassette copy of this LP is available. Special Collections staff, see Location Guide for details on cassette copies. | |
| Box 4 / Folder 14 |
| P L16 - A Reading: Walt Whitman Speaks for Himself, by Arnold Moss, Part I, January 30, 1955 |
| Alternate Form Available | |
| A cassette copy of this LP is available. Special Collections staff, see Location Guide for details on cassette copies. | |
| Box 4 / Folder 15 |
| P L17 - A Reading: Walt Whitman Speaks for Himself, by Arnold Moss, Part II, January 30, 1955 |
| Alternate Form Available | |
| A cassette copy of this LP is available. Special Collections staff, see Location Guide for details on cassette copies. | |
