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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
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 RequirementsA 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.
