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John Ashbery

John Ashbery

Appearing on Close Listening with Charles Bernstein, March 18, 2016

  • Reading and conversation (28:20): MP3

PoemTalk Podcast #127, discussing Ashbery's "The Short Answer," August 20, 2018

Listen to the complete recording and read program notes for the episode at Jacket2.

PoemTalk Podcast #9, discussing Ashbery's "Crossroads in the Past," August 13, 2008

Listen to the complete recording and read program notes for the episode at Jacket2.


Of note: Critical and genetic edition of The Skaters, ed. Robin Seguy: EPC. Includes holographs, unpublished poems, and a text-voice aligned version of Ashbery reading the poem.

Reading Commotion of the Birds in his Hudson Home, June 17, 2017

produced by Olivier Brossard

Watch on Media.sas

Group Reading of Flow Chart, John Ashbery 90th Celebration, 2017

  1. I (1:20:55): MP3
    1. Ann Lauterbach (12:00): MP3
    2. Susan Howe (12:57): MP3
    3. Mónica de la Torre (18:37): MP3
    4. Emily Skillings (19:04): MP3
    5. Karin Roffman (9:54): MP3
    6. Peter Gizzi (8:19): MP3
  2. II (1:21:37): MP3
    1. Trevor Winkfield (6:33): MP3
    2. Aditi Machado (13:53): MP3
    3. Paul Killebrew (29:07): MP3
    4. Dareen Mohamad (0:49): MP3
    5. Timothy Donnelly (24:03): MP3
    6. Helen Vendler (2:48): MP3
    7. Alexis Almeida (4:17): MP3
  3. III (46:07): MP3
    1. Wayne Koestenbaum (24:10): MP3
    2. Jorie Graham (9:20): MP3
    3. Dorothea Lasky (12:34): MP3
  4. IV (2:16:02): MP3
    1. Dara Wier (11:54): MP3
    2. Ali Power (12:16): MP3
    3. Fred Moten (11:28): MP3
    4. Todd Colby (36:12): MP3
    5. Eileen Myles (16:21): MP3
    6. Eugene Richie (2:17): MP3
    7. Billy Cancel (24:27): MP3
    8. Ariana Reines (21:01): MP3
  5. V (1:02:51): MP3
    1. Ben Lerner (5:41): MP3
    2. Alexandra Tatarsky (30:32): MP3
    3. Rosanne Wasserman (5:15): MP3
    4. Mark So (1:29): MP3
    5. Nina Puro (5:46): MP3
    6. Geoffrey G. O’Brien (14:07): MP3
  6. VI (44:05): MP3
    1. John Ashbery (1:26): MP3
    2. David Kermani (1:41): MP3
    3. Amy King (14:32): MP3
    4. Star Black (1:52): MP3
    5. Olivier Brossard (6:22): MP3
    6. Patricia Spears Jones (3:50): MP3
    7. Marcella Durand (5:06): MP3
    8. Farnoosh Fathi (9:07): MP3

Walker Arts Center commission, printed on the Irene Hixon Whitney Bridge, Minneapolis, MN

Introduction to and recording of "And now I cannot remember how I would have had it..." (1:29): MP3

Reading at Columbia University, March 23, 2016

Watch on Media.sas

Complete recording (54:34): MP3

Reading for a Tribute to James Tate, Alvin Johnson/J.M. Kaplan Hall, NYC, February 4, 2016

Two poems by James Tate — "Goodtime Jesus" and "My Private Tasmania" (4:05): MP3

Reading at Pioneer Works, Red Hook, Brooklyn, December 8, 2015

John Ashbery celebration featuring readings by Geoffery G. O’Brien, Mónica de la Torre, and John Yau, with opening remarks for John Ashbery by Ben Lerner. Further information on this event can be found at the Pioneer Works programs archive, here.

Complete recording (1:17:07): MP3

Reading "Europe" from The Tennis Court Oath, Sections 1-25, for the Paris launch of Olivier Brossard's translation of The Tennis Court Oath, NYC, November 19, 2015

Europe (8:15): MP3

Reading at Time & Space Limited for the Home School summer conference, Hudson, NY, August 13, 2015

Complete recording (34:46): MP3

Reading "The Mauve Notebook" and Interview for Poetry Magazine Podcast, April 1, 2015

  • Reading Only (2:32): MP3
  • Final Mix (5:00): MP3
  • Reading and Interview with David Schulman (43:17): MP3

Appearing on Belgische Radio en Televisie, Brussels (date unknown)

Complete recording (55:02): MP3
  1. on French writers (4:15): MP3
  2. on achieving the objective rather than the subjective (2:05): MP3
  3. the writing process (0:38): MP3
  4. on writing Three Poems (0:31): MP3
  5. reading "Le Livre est Sur la Table" and discussing influences (5:10): MP3
  6. reading "Variations, Calypso and Fugue on a Theme of Ella Wheeler Wilcox" (17:53): MP3
  7. on writing "Variations, Calypso and Fugue on a Theme of Ella Wheeler Wilcox" (1:19): MP3
  8. sources of inspiration (2:32): MP3
  9. reading "The Tennis Court Oath" (1:57): MP3

Reading at 92Y, April 3, 2014

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Reading and Interview for New Yorker Poetry Podcast, February 19, 2014

Interview with Paul Muldoon, with readings of "Gravy for Prisoners" and Charles Simic's "The Lunatic"
  • Interview Final Cut (10:53): MP3
  • Raw Interview with Readings (17:20): MP3

Reading at the Beinecke Library, Yale, November 12, 2013

Complete Reading (45:45):
MP3

Special thanks to the Beinecke Library for providing this recording.

Interview hosted by Al Filreis, February 12, 2013

  1. on humor in Ashbery's poems (3:53): MP3
  2. on Ashbery's relationship to nature and the country (4:00): MP3
  3. on "Auburn-Tinted Fences," "Soonest Mended," and living outside the margin (7:13): MP3
  4. on "Not Beyond All Conjecture" (9:01): MP3
  5. on aging, forgetfulness, and looking back at early work (5:06): MP3
  6. on "Homeless Heart" and not thinking in a straight line (3:44): MP3
  7. on Ashbery's Three Poems and his need to constantly do something new in his writing (question from Ron Sillman) (9:22): MP3
  8. on translating Rimbaud (3:26): MP3
  9. on his writing process (2:34): MP3
  10. on writing that deals with institutions and bureaucracies (1:29): MP3
  11. reading and commenting on "Like America" (6:10): MP3
  12. on experiencing difficulty when writing poetry (2:43): MP3
  13. on "A Poem of Unrest" and trying to understand Ashbery's work (1:29): MP3
  14. on Wallace Stevens and Harvard (4:04): MP3
  15. reading and discussing "Just Walking Around" (8:57): MP3

Watch on Media.sas

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Reading at the Kelly Writers House, February 11, 2013

  1. Introduction by Al Filreis (4:41): MP3
  2. Introduction by Henry Sternberg (5:32): MP3
  3. Lily Applebaum presenting John Ashbery with a gift (1:27): MP3
  4. Street Musicians (2:38): MP3
  5. Unctuous Platitudes (1:14): MP3
  6. The Couple in the Next Room (0:51): MP3
  7. And Ut Pictura Poesis Is Her Name (2:18): MP3
  8. What Is Poetry (0:46): MP3
  9. Hard Times (1:24): MP3
  10. Just Walking Around (1:15): MP3
  11. More Pleasant Adventures (1:26): MP3
  12. Faust (2:33): MP3
  13. Alcove (1:28): MP3
  14. Default Mode (2:00): MP3
  15. Episode (1:37): MP3
  16. He Who Loves and Runs Away (1:35): MP3
  17. They Knew What They Wanted (2:21): MP3
  18. Pernilla (2:29): MP3
  19. Words to that Effect (1:38): MP3
  20. Quick Question (1:19): MP3
  21. Voice from the Fireplace (3:24): MP3
  22. Homeless Heart (0:56): MP3
  23. Not Beyond All Conjecture (1:14): MP3
  24. Iphigenia in Sodus (1:46): MP3
  25. Auburn-Tinted Fences (2:03): MP3
  26. Breeze Way (2:00): MP3
  27. Domani, Dopodomani (1:03): MP3
  28. Listening Tour (0:46): MP3
Complete reading (59:51): MP3

Complete video

Reading "What is Poetry"

Reading "Hard Times"

Reading at University of Massachusetts-Amherst Visiting Writers Series, September 20, 2012

  1. introduction (1:55): MP3
  2. Words to That Effect (1:59): MP3
  3. Quick Question (1:27): MP3
  4. The Short Answer (2:01): MP3
  5. Cross Island (1:42): MP3
  6. The Allegations (1:56): MP3
  7. Rest Area (1:48): MP3
  8. Recent History (2:18): MP3
  9. Voice From the Fireplace (3:34): MP3
  10. In Dreams I Kiss Your Hand, Madame (1:07): MP3
  11. In A Lonely Place (1:46): MP3
  12. More Reluctant (2:37): MP3
  13. Unlike the Camelopard (1:47): MP3
  14. Resisting Arrest (2:35): MP3
  15. Homeless Heart (1:06): MP3
  16. Auburn-Tinted Fences (2:16): MP3
  17. This Economy (1:17): MP3
  18. False Report (2:13): MP3
  19. Elective Infinities (0:59): MP3
  20. Etudes Second Series (3:17): MP3
  21. Saps At Sea (2:42): MP3
  22. The Fops Tale (1:52): MP3
  23. The Bicameral Eyeball (2:52): MP3
  24. Bacon Grabbers (2:28): MP3
Complete recording (58:11): MP3

Reading at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, January 26, 2012

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Complete recording (1:02:42): MP3

  1. Introduction by Susan Talbot (6:39): MP3
  2. Clip from Steven Sebring's "Patti Smith: Dream of Life" (4:03): MP3
  3. After the Flood (6:47): MP3
    • After the Flood, French (2:43): MP3
    • After the Flood, English (2:24): MP3
  4. Cities (7:31): MP3
    • Cities, French (3:36): MP3
    • Cities, English (3:54): MP3
  5. Promontory (4:01): MP3
    • Promontory, French (1:44): MP3
    • Promontory, English (2:16): MP3
  6. Genie (6:20): MP3
    • Genie, French (2:58): MP3
    • Genie, English (3:31): MP3
  7. Years of Indiscretion (2:16): MP3
  8. Syringa (9:24): MP3
  9. Soonest Mended (5:30): MP3
  10. They Kney What They Wanted (1:24): MP3
  11. Zymurgy (2:13): MP3
  12. More Reluctant (2:35): MP3
  13. Auburn Tinted Fences (2:59): MP3

Oral History Interview for the Poetry Project, March 27, 2012

with Arlo Quint and Will Edmiston

Reading for the New Yorker Podcast, October 18, 2011

  1. Resisting Arrest (02:17): MP3
  2. More Reluctant (02:18): MP3

John Ashbery and Friends: Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror Gallery Exhibition, Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, June 2, 2011

At North Farm (0:58): MP3

Complete reading (19:45): MP3

Includes introductions by Grant Holcomb and Joe Flaherty, Ashbery reading, and conversation with James Longenbach.

Reading and Award Ceremony at NYU, Honoring John Ashbery's Translation of Rimbaud's Illuminations, May 12, 2011

  1. First Speaker-Francine Goldenhar (2:25): MP3
  2. Second Speaker-Tom Bishop (8:28): MP3
  3. Ashbery's Acceptance Speech-Featuring Ron Padgett (31:39): MP3
  4. After the Flood (student reads French original first) (5:37): MP3
  5. Genie (student reads French original first) (6:44): MP3

Complete recording (54:54): MP3

Conversation with Ron Padgett, Oral History Initiative: On Frank O'Hara, Woodberry Poetry Room, Harvard, April 5, 2011

  1. introduction (1:41): MP3
  2. Ashbery describing how het met Frank O'Hara (5:21): MP3
  3. discussing his years at Harvard with Frank (7:14): MP3
  4. Frank's time at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, the Poets Theater, and his piano playing (5:29): MP3
  5. Frank's return to NYC after Michigan, his job at MoMA, and John Latouche's salons (4:32): MP3
  6. The Living Theater and acting in "Desire Caught by the Tail" with Frank (2:22): MP3
  7. Ashbery on the inspiring, friendly competition between himself, Frank O'Hara, and Kenneth Koch (2:16): MP3
  8. on Jane Bowles (2:14): MP3
  9. retelling the story of Frank becoming the victim of a holdup (2:23): MP3
  10. Frank's letter-writing and modesty (4:24): MP3
  11. Frank at the Poets Theater in Cambridge and as a reader of poetry (4:21): MP3
  12. Frank's generosity and willingness to entertain everyone and the difficulty of talking to him alone (1:57): MP3
  13. reading two letters from Frank O'Hara (8:21): MP3
Complete recording (53:46): MP3


Interview for Poetry Magazine Podcast, with Curtis Fox, April 1, 2011