PennSound Daily

This afternoon saw the announcements of the annual Man Booker Prize, one of Brittain's most prestigious literary awards, and we were very happy to see Lydia Davis had won this year's International Prize.

Those looking for an audio introduction to Davis' work will do well to visit her PennSound author page, which features a wide variety of readings, talks and interviews going all the way back to 1983. Those recordings include two appearances on Cross Cultural Poetics from 2006 and 2008, a 2003 reading as part of the Belladonna* series, appearances at our own Kelly Writers House from 2003 and 1999, a 1995 reading and interview (with Charles Bernstein) from SUNY-Buffalo and Segue Series reading at the Ear Inn from 1987, 1984 and 1983. You'll also find a 2009 PoemTalk Podcast on Davis' "A Position at the University," featuring David Grazian, Jessica Lowenthal and Adrian Khactu.

Our latest author page is for poet and editor Paul Hoover.

This new page is anchored by three appearances on Leonard Schwartz's Cross Cultural Poetics program. First, from episode #50, "What Dialogue Does," Hoover reads from his then-latest collection, Rehearsal in Black. Next, from episode #171 "Forms of Address II," he reads from his essay collection, Fables of Responsibility, and finally on episode #223 "Two From San Francisco," Hoover reads from and discusses his co-translation from the Vietnamese Beyond The Court Gate: Selected Poems of Nguyen Trei.

These are followed by a pair of Segue Series readings, recorded at the Ear Inn and Double Happiness (the former in January 1991, the latter in December 1999), and the page is closed out with Hoover's mini-set during the 2008 MLA Offsite Reading in San Francisco.

While this new author page is a good start at encapsulating Hoover's long career, we're excited that Hoover will be sending along some additional recordings from his collection, which we'll be adding in the near future.

One of the newest additions to the PennSound archives is a special compilation of Burmese poets curated by our own Charles Bernstein. While more recordings will be added in time, the page presently features two recordings of poet Zeyar Lynn — a new Close Listening program recorded on May 6th and a set of three poems ("My History Is Not Mine," "Slightly Lopsided but a More Accurate Portrait," and "Big Sister Have You Been to Laiza") recorded the day before — along with a new Close Listening program with Khin Aung Aye and James Byrne, also recorded on May 6th.

Bernstein recently posted a Jacket2 commentary on these recordings as well as the anthology, Bones Will Crow: 15 Contemporary Burmese Poets, edited by ko ko thett and James Byrne, which was just released by North Illinois University Press. "The presiding spirit of the anthology," Bernstein writes, " is Zeyar Lynn, who spoke at a May 5 PEN event and the next day on Close Listening with great lucidity about the situation of contemporary Burmese poetry. As I heard Zeyar Lynn speak I felt an uncannily immediate engagement with his views; we are in the same conversation. Of course, this is partly because Zeyar Lynn is so conversant with the expanded field of L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E. But this itself is possible because we share a common set of readings and literary traditions, as well as a very divergent set."