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Berkson Tapes

John Ashbery

Reading "The Skaters" at Washington SquareGallery, with introduction by Bill Berkson, Sugust 23, 1964
  • The Skaters I-III (45:50): MP3
  • The Skaters IV (18:35): MP3

Jennifer Bartlett

Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project
  • complete reading (5:45): MP3

James Baxter

Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project
  • complete reading (6:50): MP3
  • complete recording (6:49): MP3

Bill Berkson

Discussion on Jackson Pollock on "The Forum" program with Ed Harris and Whitney Chadwick, hosted by Michael Krasny, for KQED, San Francisco, January 18, 2001
  • Part One (43:16): MP3
  • Part Two (10:08): MP3

Reading for the Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church, New York, May 17, 1978
  • Complete Reading (39:58): MP3

Reading "Young Manhattan" by Bill Berkson and Anne Waldman, 1974
  • Complete Recording (5:57): MP3

Reading with Kenward Elmslie at Loeb S.C., New York City, February 7, 1969
  • Complete Recording (1:12:37): MP3

Reading at MacCombe Community College
  • Complete Recording (43:00): MP3

Reading at Grand Piano, San Francisco, November 9, 1976
  • Complete Recording (43:00): MP3

Reading for Intersection, San Francisco, December 20, 1976
  • Complete Recording (24:38): MP3

Ted Berrigan

Unknown Reading, Unknown Date
  • partial recording (4:30): MP3

Robin Blaser

Reading at the San Francisco Poetry Center, February 11, 1976
  • Part One (31:19): MP3
  • Part Two (31:23): MP3

Joe Brainard

Reading "Journals" and "Van Gogh" for the Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church, New York, and "Train Ride" at SFSU, mid 1970's
  • Complete Recording (24:59): MP3

Jim Brodey

Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project
  • complete recording (3:17): MP3

Michael Brownstein

Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project
  • complete recording (26:42): MP3

Reading "Landscape Do Not Enter" at St. Mark's Poetry Project
  • complete recording (2:19): MP3

Reading "Oracle Night" at St. Mark's Poetry Project
  • complete recording (19:20): MP3
  • complete recording (22:49): MP3
  • complete recording (22:52): MP3
    • Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (21:09): MP3

      Basil Bunting

      Reading "Briggflatts," Carlisle, April 15, 1977
      • Briggflats I-IV (43:01): MP3
      • Briggflatts V and Coda (12:10): MP3

      John Cage

      "Questions and Answers," Harvard, 1990
      • Side A (28:21): MP3
      • Side B (25:49): MP3

      Reading "Mesostic IV," Harvard, 1990
      • Side A (32:13): MP3
      • Side B (24:39): MP3

      "Overpopulation and Art," Stanford Humanities Center, January 28, 1992
      • complete recording (26:42): MP3

      Steve Carey

      Reading "A Movie for Liz Palmer" at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (0:53): MP3

      Jim Carroll

      Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (4:20): MP3

      Joe Ceravolo

      Unknown Date, Unknown Location
      • complete recording (23:26): MP3

      Tom Clark

      Reading at Body Politic, Chicago, November 1973
      • complete recording (17:11): MP3

      Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (7:03): MP3

      Reading "The Color of Stepped on Gum" at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (0:49): MP3

      Clark Coolidge

      Polaroid, S -Press Cassette
      • Side A (59:02): MP3
      • Side B (44:59): MP3

      Robert Creeley

      Reading at the Poetry Center, San Francisco, May 20, 1956
      • Part One (46:19): MP3
      • Part Two (7:10): MP3

      Victor Hernández Cruz

      Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (9:00): MP3

      Fielding Dawson

      Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (12:37): MP3

      Ed Dorn

      Reading "North Atlantic Turbine" in London, 1967
      • complete recording (53:52): MP3

      Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (8:05): MP3

      Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project, New York
      • complete recording (8:01): MP3

      Reading "Half in the Vast Distance" at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (3:27): MP3

      Kenward Elmslie

      Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (10:09): MP3

      Reading with Kenneth Deifik as part of the "Town Hall," St. Mark's Poetry Project, April 19, 1980
      • complete recording (5:47): MP3

      Reading "Saga of Skunk's Misery" at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (5:24): MP3

      Clayton Eshleman

      Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project, November 16, 1992
      • complete recording (50:33): MP3

      Larry Fagin

      Reading in Bolinas, March 6, 1974
      • complete recording (22:11): MP3

      Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (10:14): MP3

      Allen Ginsberg

      Reading at Intersection, San Francisco, August 17, 1971
      • complete recording (58:06): MP3

      Reading "Popeye and Blake" with Kenneth Koch at St. Mark's Poetry Project, May 9, 1979
      • complete recording (8:18): MP3

      Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project, 1977
      • complete recording (35:44): MP3

      John Godfrey

      Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (1:33): MP3

      Ted Greenwald

      Reading at Grand Piano, San Francisco, November 9, 1976
      • partial recording (18:50): MP3

      Barbara Guest

      Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project, NY
      • complete recording (7:39): MP3

      Bobbie Louise Hawkins

      Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project, NY
      • complete recording (10:38): MP3

      Reading "The Elevation of Terre Haute is 50 Feet" at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (4:37): MP3

      Bob Holman

      Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (1:19): MP3

      Steve Katz

      Reading "William Reichert" at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (2:37): MP3

      Sam Kashner

      Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (2:23): MP3

      Reading "Toothpaste" at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (0:42): MP3

      Kenneth Koch

      Reading "Boiling Water" at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (9:45): MP3

      Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (5:17): MP3

      Rochelle Kraut

      Reading the Third Poem from "A Book of Airs," by Thomas Campion, at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (2:28): MP3

      Joanne Kyger

      Reading at Intersection, San Francisco, December 20, 1976
      • complete recording (18:15): MP3

      Reading from "Visit to Marlyand" at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (2:20): MP3

      Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project, New York
      • complete recording (11:43): MP3

      Gary Lenhart

      Reading "My Bellacina" at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (0:59): MP3

      Robert Lowell

      Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (2:57): MP3

      Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project, 1977
      • complete recording (22:44): MP3

      Reading "To Speak of Woe That Is in Marriage"
      • complete recording (1:55): MP3

      Bernadette Mayer

      Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project, 1977
      • complete recording (18:15): MP3

      Midwinter Day
      • complete recording (29:39): MP3

      Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project, New York
      • complete recording (33:26): MP3

      Reading "The Heart of the Hair" at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (3:47): MP3

      Eileen Myles

      Reading "Lorna and Vicki" at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (3:26): MP3

      Alice Notley

      Reading "Conversation" at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (1:22): MP3

      Reading "A Woman Comes Into the Room" at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (1:56): MP3

      Maureen Owen

      Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (4:56): MP3

      Ron Padgett

      Unknown Location, May, 1973
      • complete recording (46:37): MP3

      Michael Palmer

      Reading "Dance of the Bees" at St. Mark's Poetry Project, March 3, 1978
      • complete recording (0:57): MP3

      Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (10:28): MP3

      Ezra Pound

      Unknown Date, Unknown Location
      • complete recording (3:18): MP3

      F.T. Prince

      Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project, May 24, 1978
      • complete recording (1:11:07): MP3

      Tom Raworth

      Reading at the New College, March 1, 1985
      • incomplete reading (33:31): MP3

      Charles Reznikoff

      Reading for the Poetry Project, St. Mark's, New York, 1972
      • complete recording (1:00:51): MP3

      Bob Rosenthal

      Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (1:45): MP3

      Ed Sanders

      Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (17:04): MP3

      San Francisco Poets, Evergreen Review

      • Ferlinghetti, Miles, Duncan, and Spicer (25:22): MP3
      • Broughton, Rexroth, Evanson, Whalen, McClure, and Ginsberg (17:29): MP3

      Harris Schiff

      Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project, New York
      • complete recording (4:03): MP3

      Reading "New York" at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (0:15): MP3

      Reading "Freedom is Your Dream" at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (0:45): MP3

      Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project, April 19, 1980
      • complete recording (5:52): MP3

      Peter Schjeldahl

      Reading for the "Town Hall" at St. Mark's Poetry Project, New York, April 19, 1980
      • complete recording (2:30): MP3

      James Schuyler

      Hymn to Life & Other Poems, Watershed Tapes
      • side one (31:05): MP3
      • side two (29:35): MP3

      Semina Culture Poetry Reading, Berkeley Art Museum, November 12, 2006
      • Part One (45:54): MP3
      • Part One (38:59): MP3

      Six Gallery Reading: Rexroth, Snyder, Whalen, McClure, San Francisco, October 1955
      • Rexroth, Snyder, Whalen, and McClure (46:22): MP3
      • McClure (0:51): MP3

      Patti Smith

      Reading "Poem (Lo, No Lord...)" at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (1:45): MP3

      Lorenzo Thomas

      Reading "Red Cross Stations" at St. Mark's Poetry Project, November 20, 1979
      • complete recording (2:26): MP3

      Susie Timmons

      Reading "Journal Entries" at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (1:08): MP3

      Tony Towle

      Reading "Social Poem" at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (3:12): MP3

      Unknown Recordings

      Unknown Location, Unknown Date

      North, St. Mark's Poetry Project, New York
      • complete recording (10:26): MP3

      G.S. Carey Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project, New York
      • complete recording (1:50): MP3

      Ryman reading "Since Breakfast" at St. Mark's Poetry Project, NY
      • complete recording (0:35): MP3

      Town Hall with Schiff, Hawkins, and Clark, April 19, 1980
      • complete recording (35:52): MP3

      Unknown Recording, St. Mark's Poetry Project, NY
      • complete recording (4:27): MP3

      Unknown Recording, St. Mark's Poetry Project, NY
      • complete recording (7:10): MP3

      Unknown reading "Guyana" at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (1:56): MP3

      Anne Waldman

      Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (11:52): MP3

      Reading as part of "Nurturing in Times of Peril," Naropa, May 24, 1986
      • complete recording (42:35): MP3

      Philip Whalen

      Reading at Intersection, San Francisco, August 17, 1971
      • complete recording (58:37): MP3

      By and Large, Ubik Sound
      • side one (32:02): MP3
      • side two (30:15): MP3

      John Wieners

      Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project, NY, January 6, 1971 (date tentative)
      • complete recording (42:38): MP3

      Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project, 1970 (date tentative)
      • complete recording (37:22): MP3

      Reading from "A Superficial Estimation" (begins in progress) at St. Mark's Poetry Project
      • complete recording (13:04): MP3

      Video Recordings

      John Ashbery

      Reading as part of the Lunch Poems Series, UC Berkeley, April 8, 2001

      Part of the Cloud House Series


      Reading at the San Fransisco Art Institute (organized with Small Press Traffic), introduction by Bill Berkson, January 26, 1998

      Part of the Cloud House Series


      Reading at the San Francisco Art Institute (organized with the American Poetry Archive at San Fransisco State), December 5, 1984
      Reading in the American Poetry Archive at San Fransisco State, Introduction by Kathleen Fraser, May 16, 1973

      Ted Berrigan

      Two Readings: March 5, 1975 and April 25, 1979

      Bill Berkson

      Reading for "Remember Me to Someone" event at Slaughterhousespace, CA, August 29, 2009
      Reading at the CUE Art Foundation, New York, May 3, 2007
      Reading with Sarah Riggs, Stephen Rodefer, Andrew Zawacki, Guy Bennet, and Jorie Graham for Double Change Issue 9, July 5, 2005
      Reading with Valerie Mrejen for Double Change Issue 8, Paris, June 17, 2005

      Aaron Kramer

        Reading at Concord Academy Chapel, April 19, 1986
        Watch on Media.sas
      • complete recording (1:34:43)

      James Schuyler

      Reading at San Francisco Art Institute, co-sponsored by the Poetry Center at SFSU, February 10, 1989

      Install the Flash plugin to watch this video.

      complete recording (54:52)



      These sound and video recordings are being made available for noncommercial and educational use only. All rights to this recorded material belongs to the respective authors. Used with permission. Distributed by PennSound.