Forum Network

Public stations. Community Partners. World-class speakers. Free lecture videos. See what you think.

a public media service of

Public Broadcasting Service National Public Radio

By Topic

By Region

By Period

You may be using an older version of the Adobe Flash Player. To enjoy multimedia content on WGBH.org, please click here to upgrade to the latest version of the free Flash player.

Downloads

You must be logged in to download content.

Please Login or Register.

Meet the Poet: Michael Harper

October 17, 2002

Michael Harper 1988-1993 poet laureate of RI

Poet Michael Harper reads from and discusses his writing.

Michael Harper is the author of several collections, including Images of Kin, winner of the Melville-Cane Award from the Poetry Society of America and a National Book Award nominee; History is Your Heartbeat, winner of the Black Academy of Arts & Letters for Poetry; and Dear John, Dear Coltrane, nominated for the National Book Award. Harper grew up in Brooklyn in a family of storytellers where the blues and jazz were played, and much of his poetry, with its variations on a theme and its improvisational feel, reflects these influences.

Series:

African American Culture Series

Topics: Literature & Philosophy | People & Places

Tags: Authors | blues | Brooklyn | Dear Coltrane | Dear John | History is Your Heartbeat | Images of Kin | jazz | African American | Profiles | Poetry | Writing Process

Presented By WGBH and Wheaton College:

Creativity and Mood

Poet and songwriter Paul Muldoon joins poet/playright Elizabeth Swados to explore the relationship between creativity and mood.

Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Town Hall: Part I

CSI:NY's Hill Harper and filmmaker Gary Ross join local students and a panel of esteemed local experts for a timely Town Hall Meeting entitled, "Lincoln, Douglass and the Transformative Power of Words." The event seeks to underscore the importance of education in the lives of Abraham Lincol

Yusef Komunyakaa Reads "Facing It"

Yusef Komunyakaa

Yusef Komunyakaa reads his poem "Facing It" about seeing the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial wall in Washington, D.C. through his eyes as a war veteran and contemporary poet.

Lucille Clifton Reads "won't you celebrate with me"

Lucille Clifton

Contemporary poet Lucille Clifton explores themes of identity, race, and gender as she reads her poem, “won’t you celebrate with me.”

Cynthia Lopez: WAM! 2009 Keynote

Cynthia Lopez, vice president of American Documentary's P.O.V., delivers the keynote address at the 2009 Women, Action & the Media conference.

Harvard economist and business guru Michael E. Porter, pundit and advisor to presidents past David Gergen, Harvard Law professor Lani Guinier, and Atlantic Monthly senior editor Jack Beatty mix it up with a frank assessment of the President Obama's progress on his new agenda.

Songlines in Michaeltree: NEW AND COLLECTED POEMS (Illinois Poetry Series)

Author: Michael S. Harper

Publisher: University of Illinois Press (2002)

Binding: Paperback, 408 pages

Dear John, Dear Coltrane (Poetry from Illinois)

Author: Michael S. Harper

Publisher: University of Illinois Press (1985)

Binding: Paperback, 104 pages

Use Trouble (Illinois Poetry Series)

Author: Michael S. Harper

Publisher: University of Illinois Press (2009)

Binding: Hardcover, 368 pages

Login or register to post comments