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.

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

produced by Olivier Brossard

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

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

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)

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

• Interview Final Cut (10:53): MP3
• Raw Interview with Readings (17:20): 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

• Video mirror: Media.SAS server

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 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

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

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 at Smith College, November 2, 2011

1. introduction (6:20): MP3
2. Default Mode (2:59): MP3
3. Episode (1:58): MP3
4. He Who Loves and Runs Away (1:48): MP3
5. Idea of Steve (1:12): MP3
6. They Knew What They Wanted (2:02): MP3
7. The Tower of London (2:17): MP3
8. The Winemakers (4:10): MP3
9. Wulf (1:48): MP3
10. Recent History (2:30): MP3
11. Landscape Changer (1:20): MP3
12. Double Whoopee (2:40): MP3
13. In A Lonely Place (1:42): MP3
14. Auburn-Tinted Fences (2:14): MP3
15. Resisting Arrest (2:29): MP3
16. More Reluctant (2:27): MP3
17. Saps At Sea (2:11): MP3
18. Northeast Building (1:30): MP3
19. Homeless Heart (1:02): MP3
20. The Economy (1:27): MP3
21. The Bicameral Eyeball (2:41): MP3
22. After the Flood (Rimbaud) (3:27): MP3
23. Cities (Rimbaud) (3:54): MP3
Complete reading (1:01:17): MP3
Watch on Media.sas
• Video mirror: Media.SAS server
• Part 1 (38:22): MP3
• Part 2 (41:14): MP3

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.

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 (49:35): MP3

(poems read include 'How to Continue', 'Hotel Lautréamont', 'Sleepers Awake', 'Ignorance of the Law Is No Excuse', 'A Worldly Country', 'If You Said You Would Come With Me'.)

Reading for the Readings in Contemporary Poetry series at Dia Art Foundation, New York:Chelsea, March 10, 2011

with Paolo Javier

• from Planisphere (Ecco, 2009) and Ashbery's translation of Rimbaud's Illuminations (Norton, 2010) (40:17): MP3

At the Tibor de Nagy Gallery 60th Anniversary Program at The New School, New York, January 31, 2011

Conversation with Jane Freilicher (moderated by Jenni Quilter) (14:25): MP3
1. introduction (2:25): MP3
2. Freilicher recalling how she and Ashbery met (2:19): MP3
3. on Mounting Tensions and Rudy Burckhardt (2:42): MP3
4. on their first memories of the Tibor De Nagy Gallery (1:32): MP3
5. Ashbery on working as an art critic and the influence of Freilicher's work on his poetry (5:07): MP3
• Complete Program Part One (1:19:57): MP3
• Complete Program Part Two (28:47): MP3

(with Andrew Lampert, Bill Berkson, Ron Padgett, Douglas Crase, and Eric Brown)

Interview with Sarah Montague of WNYC for Brooklyn Book Festival, September 8, 2010

Complete recording (12:09): MP3

Reading for the Lannan Series, Georgetown, February 2, 2010

Complete Video Recording

1. Introduction (3:56): MP3
2. Alcove (1:57): MP3
3. Chair Rental (1:08): MP3
4. Deep Surprise (2:19): MP3
5. Default Mode (1:53): MP3
6. Episode (1:41): MP3
7. Giraffe Headquarters (0:41): MP3
8. He Who Loves and Runs Away (1:53): MP3
9. Idea of Steve (1:03): MP3
10. Leave the Hand In (1:20): MP3
11. The Logistics (1:23): MP3
12. Lost Sonnet (0:47): MP3
13. More of What Happened (1:53): MP3
14. Partial Clearing (1:19): MP3
15. Pernilla (2:38): MP3
16. Planosphere (2:55): MP3
17. The Seventh Chihuahua (0:49): MP3
18. The Stumming (1:27): MP3
19. They Knew What They Wanted (1:34): MP3
20. The Tower of London (2:02): MP3
21. Sons of the Desert (1:29): MP3
22. The Winemakers (4:26): MP3
• Complete reading (42:19): MP3

Reading at the Princeton Poetry Festival, 2009

1. Day 1 Intro (2:48): MP3
2. Reading (14:31): MP3
3. Day 1 Evening Intro (8:45): MP3
4. Day 1 Evening Reading (38:12): MP3

Reading at The Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church, New York, May 14, 2009

1. introduction by Charles North (7:19): MP3
2. A Worldly Country (2:25): MP3
• Complete reading (13:58): MP3 (note: recording cuts off prematurely)

Reading for the Serpentine Gallery Poetry Marathon, October 17, 2009

Watch on Media.sas

New York Review of Books Podcast, 2009

John Ashbery reads his selections from among the poems he has published in the New York Review of Books, recorded on February 21, 2009 at the offices of the New York Review of Books. Introduced by Jana Prikryl. Originally broadcast on April 1, 2009, as part of the Review's podcast series.

1. introduction (0:39): MP3

from Planisphere

2. Structures in Sand (0:56): MP3
3. Working Overtime (0:47): MP3
4. Episode (1:29): MP3
5. Summer Reading (1:12): MP3

from A Worldly Country

6. introduction to "Pavane pour Helen Twelvetrees" (2:20): MP3
7. Pavane por Helen Twelvetrees (2:22): MP3
8. Image Problem (1:26): MP3
9. discussion of "Strayed Reveler" (0:26): MP3

from Where Shall I Wander

10. Days of Reckoning (1:55): MP3
11. Ignorance of the Law Is No Excuse (1:34): MP3

from Chinese Whispers

12. Mordred (2:19): MP3
13. Random Jottings of an Old Man (1:51): MP3

from Your Name Here

14. Crossroads in the Past (1:43): MP3
15. This Room (0:36): MP3

"Crossroads in the Past" is also featured on PoemTalk Episode 9.

from Can You Hear, Bird?

16. By Guess and by Gosh (1:50): MP3

from Hotel Lautreamont

17. On the Empress's Mind (1:39): MP3
18. From Estuaries, from Casinos (3:53): MP3

from Shadow Train

19. Qualm (1:13): MP3
20. closing remarks (0:27): MP3

Complete recording (31:25): MP3

From State of the Union: a Poetry Reading, at the CUNY Graduate Center, October 30, 2008

1. Annuals and Perennials (1:07): MP3
2. Decoy (2:26): MP3
Complete reading (5:58): MP3 (note: recording cuts off at the end)


Interview and Reading with Curtis Fox for The Poetry Foundation, June 18, 2008

Complete recording (49:35): MP3

Reading and Forum at The New School, April 15, 2008

1. Introduction by David Lehman (4:16): MP3
2. A Mood of Quiet Beauty (1:24): MP3
3. Alone in the Lumber Business (2:47): MP3
4. Notes from the Air (2:50): MP3
5. Still Life With Stranger (1:18): MP3
6. Hotel Lautreamont (6:31): MP3
7. This Room (0:41): MP3
8. If You Said You Would Come With Me (2:35): MP3
9. Merrily We Live (2:48): MP3
10. The History of My Life (0:48): MP3
11. Memories of Imperialism (2:13): MP3
12. He Who Loves and Runs Away (1:36): MP3
13. Translation of Pierre Reverdy, "Haunted House" (4:48): MP3
14. Questions and Discussion (parts of recording missing) (23:18): MP3

Reading at Haverford College, February 19, 2008

Complete reading (37:00): MP3

1. Introduction (0:50): MP3
2. Discussing Hotel Lautréamont (2:10) MP3
3. Hotel Lautréamont (2:10) MP3
4. This Room (0:40) MP3
5. If You Said You Would Come With Me (2:48) MP3
6. A Linnet (1:24): MP3
7. The Bobinski Brothers (1:24): MP3
8. Merrily We Live (2:46): MP3
9. The History of My Life (0:45): MP3
10. Redeemed Area (2:26): MP3
11. Stanzas Before Time (0:31): MP3
12. Crossroads in the Past (1:48): MP3
13. A Nice Presentation (2:24): MP3
14. Disagreeable Glimpses (5:42): MP3
15. Sonnet: More of Same (1:00): MP3
16. A Worldly Country (2:34): MP3

Please note: the quality of this recording, which was taken from a videotape of the event, is less than optimal; however we felt that its significance merited our posting it, and have done our best to make the audio as clear as possible

"Crossroads in the Past" is also featured on PoemTalk Episode 9.

Reading Pierre Martory at "Poets in the Sheep Meadow Fold," AWP, New York, February 2, 2008

John Ashbery's portion of the program (16:37): MP3

Complete program (1:10:07): MP3

From Charles Bernstein's Portraits Series: The Film of Your Life, September 16, 2007

Watch on Media.sas

John Ashbery
After John's retrospective reading at the Bard 80th birthday celebration, we gathered at Finberg House. Pierre Jorris narrates with Joan Retallack close by.
(mp4, 14 seconds, 10.5 mb)




Mo Pitkin's, New York

June 6, 2007

Reading with Charles Bernstein

Sponsored by Poetry magazine & McSweeney's "Chain" issue

Note: Lynn Emmanuel read first at this event but her reading was not on the CD provided to PennSound.

• John Ashbery Introduction (1:13): MP3
• Full Reading by John Ashbery: (22:44): MP3

Ashbery reads from A Worldly Country

1. A Worldly Country (3:26): MP3
2. To Be Affronted (1:58): MP3
3. Opposition to a Memorial (2:17): MP3
4. For Now (1:36): MP3
5. Image Problem (1:34): MP3
6. A Kind of Chill (0:48): MP3
7. Well-Scrubbed Interior (1:15): MP3
8. Thrill of a Romance (1:37): MP3
9. Phantoum (4:08): MP3
10. So Long, Santa (1:53): MP3

Staged Reading of John Ashbery's play "The Compromise"

Theatre Metropole, Paris, France, March 5, 2007

1. Introduction (0:54): MP3
2. Act One (32:08): MP3
3. Act Two (27:24): MP3
4. Act Three (36:13): MP3

John Ashbery, Yale Collection of American Literature Reading Series, Beinecke Library, September 20, 2006

1. introduction by Langdon Hammer (3:14): MP3
2. Ignorance of the Law Is No Excuse (2:24): MP3
3. Days of Reckoning (2:22): MP3
4. Coma Berenices (11:22): MP3
5. The New Higher (1:32): MP3
6. Interesting People of Newfoundland (2:57): MP3
7. Heavy Home (2:16): MP3
8. The Love Interest (1:05): MP3
9. The Black Prince (0:41): MP3
10. Lacrimae Rerun (1:36): MP3
11. A Kind of Chill (0:56): MP3
12. Filigrane (1:57): MP3
13. Opposition to a Memorial (2:07): MP3
14. Pavane pour Helen Twelvetrees (2:51): MP3
15. Phantoum (4:07): MP3
16. Thrill of a Romance (1:48): MP3
17. A Wordly Country (2:38): MP3
Complete reading (46:47): MP3


Recording courtesy Beinecke, thanks to Nancy Kuhl

John Ashbery appears on "France Culture" on Radio France, February 12, 2003

• Complete recording (52:31): MP3

From The Key West Literary Seminar, 2003

Lecture on Elizabeth Bishop (12:04): MP3
(more information at Littoral)
Reading from Chinese Whispers (25:03): MP3
(more information at Littoral)

1. Nice Presentation (3:20): MP3
2. Disagreeable Glimpses (5:50): MP3
3. Theme Park Days (1:54): MP3
4. Why Not Sneeze? (1:06): MP3
5. View of Delft (1:13): MP3
6. The Lightning Conductor (2:25): MP3
7. I Asked Mr. Dithers Whether It Was Time Yet He Said No to Wait (1:11): MP3
8. Local Legend (2:49): MP3
9. Runway (1:40): MP3
10. The Business of Falling Asleep (2) (3:24): MP3

Kelly Writers House Fellow, 2002

Reading at the Kelly Writers House, March 25, 2002

• Complete reading (59:03): MP3


1. Introduction (10:27): MP3
2. This Room (2:51): MP3
3. If You Said You Would Come With Me (3:28): MP3
4. A Linnet (1:24): MP3
5. The Bobinski Brothers (1:30): MP3
6. Merrily We Live (3:32): MP3
7. Invasive Procedures (2:46): MP3
8. Memories of Imperialism (2:23): MP3
9. Strange Occupations (1:45): MP3
10. Full Tilt (1:58): MP3
11. Heartache (2:03): MP3
12. Onion Skin (0:18): MP3
13. Redeemed Area (2:35): MP3
14. Crossroads in the Past (1:48): MP3
15. The Underwriters (2:34): MP3
16. A Nice Presentation (3:08): MP3
17. Disagreeable Glimpses (5:41): MP3
18. Runway (1:52): MP3
19. As Umbrellas Follow Rain (6:13): MP3

"Crossroads in the Past" is also featured on PoemTalk Episode 9.

In discussion with Al Filreis, March 26th, 2002

Complete discussion (1:03:44): MP3

1. introduction by Al Filreis (7:36): MP3
2. memory and age (2:36): MP3
3. "Crossroads in the Past" and "Enjoys Watching Foreign Films" (5:03): MP3
4. prose and verse (3:59): MP3
5. Harvard lectures (2:58): MP3
6. Delmore Schwartz (3:25): MP3
7. unknown, "minor" poets (5:54): MP3
8. confessional poems (3:08): MP3
9. narrative poetry (1;07): MP3
10. on publishing (6:35): MP3
11. reading Ashbery in anthologies and "The One Thing That Can Save America" (3:01): MP3
12. connections to music and visual art (2:54): MP3
13. influence of Delmore Schwartz (4:55): MP3
14. the space between self and poetry (2:47): MP3
15. current writing process (3:39): MP3
16. comparison and jealousy (1:50): MP3
17. "Enjoys Watching Foreign Films" (2:19): MP3

"Crossroads in the Past" is also featured on PoemTalk Episode 9.

For more information on Ashbery's visit, and video footage of both events, please visit the Kelly Writers House Fellows Program site.

From The Voice of the Poet, 2001

1. Self Portrait in a Convex Mirror (I: "As Parmigianino did it") (8:16): MP3
2. Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror (II: "Tomorrow is easy but today is uncharted") (6:07): MP3
3. Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror (III: "A breeze like the turning of a page") (11:41): MP3
4. Soonest Mended (4:35): MP3

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

Part of the Cloud House Series

Watch on Media.sas
• video by Kush
• Complete recording (1:03:25)

Wednesday Night Series: John Ashbery, Bernadette Mayer, St. Mark's Church, NY, November 1, 2000

Recorded on audiocassette. Recording hosted by the Library of Congress.

1. Side A (47:06): link
2. Side B (31:41): link

In Conversation with Ian Probstein

• John Ashbery on translation, c. 1991, Brooklyn, in conversation with Ian Probstein and Richard Green (31:48): MP3
• Ashbery with Probstein, c. 1991, Brooklyn, on "Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror" and Selected Poems (31:49): MP3

Appearing on BBC Radio 3, Contemporary American Poetry Program, July 24, 1999

Complete reading (19:48): MP3

1. Introduction (3:36): MP3
2. The Painter (2:45): MP3
3. Farm Implements and Rudabagas in a Landscape (4:32): MP3
4. What Is Poetry (2:04): MP3
5. At North Farm (1:29): MP3
6. At First I Thought I Wouldn't Say Anything About It (1:45): MP3
7. No Longer Very Clear (2:09): MP3
8. Like America (1:20): MP3

Wednesday Series: John Ashbery and Claudia Rankine, St. Mark’s Church, NY, February 10, 1999

Recorded on audiocassette. Recording hosted by the Library of Congress.

1. Tape 1, Side A (32:04): link
2. Tape 1, Side B (32:34): link
3. Tape 2, Side A (31:51): link
4. Tape 2, Side B (32:45): link

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

Part of the Cloud House Series

Watch on Media.sas
• video by Kush
• Complete recording (1:08:14)



Reading from Selected Poems (Carcanet, 1998), 1998

Just Walking Around (1:00): MP3

Reading for Wednesdays @ 4Plus, University at Buffalo, October 12, 1996


Ashbery reads at Robert Creeley's 70th birthday celebration. Introduction by Susan Schultz (hosted by Charles Bernstein)


Complete reading (48:37): MP3

1. Introduction of Susan Schultz by Charles Bernstein (1:13): MP3
2. Introduction of John Ashbery by Susan Schultz (6:04): MP3
3. Ashbery's Opening Comments (2:47): MP3
4. A Waking Dream (2:04): MP3
5. Opening Comments to "...by an Earthquake"(1:41): MP3
6. ...by an Earthquake (8:53): MP3
7. Chapter 2. Book 35. (2:52): MP3
8. Opening Comments for "Debit Night" (1:11): MP3
9. Debit Night (5:38): MP3
10. Come On, Dear (2:22): MP3
11. Baltimore (0:48): MP3
12. Cousin Sarah's Knitting (2:26): MP3
13. Last Night I Dreamed I Was In Bucharest (1:17): MP3
14. Added Poignancy (2:52): MP3
15. Laughing Gravy (0:46): MP3
16. Moderately (3:48): MP3

Complete video recording

Watch on Media.sas

Appearing on Lyrikmagasinet, Sveriges Radio, Sweden, May 15, 1996

1. sleep in relation to Ashbery's poetry (0:41): MP3
2. reading from "Sleepers Awake" (0:26): MP3
3. on having fun when writing (0:46): MP3
4. joking that the sound of his name is associated with great pain and difficulty (0:18): MP3
5. on his family (0:55): MP3
6. reading from "The Painter" (0:41): MP3
7. on engaging with poetry through the work of John Cage (0:37): MP3
8. music in relation to his writing (0:38): MP3
9. reading from "Marchenbilder" (0:53): MP3
10. on Andersen's Tin Soldier (0:21): MP3
11. on the mystery and ambiguity in Whitman's poetry (0:28): MP3
12. Ashbery rereading Whitman in his late 20s (0:27): MP3
13. on feeling trapped and building a fantasy (0:16): MP3
14. reading "Can You Hear, Bird" (1:18): MP3
15. on beginning with the title when writing poems (0:25): MP3
16. reading "Coming Down From New York" and on knowing when to end the poem (0:57): MP3
17. on letting the poem take on its own shape (0:28): MP3
18. line breaks as one of the most enjoyable parts of writing poetry (0:25): MP3
19. reading from "My Philosophy of Life" (0:37): MP3
20. reading from "My Philosophy of Life" (final lines) (0:24): MP3

Complete program (43:28): MP3

From Exact Change Yearbook reading in Hudson, NY, July 22, 1994

They Only Dream Of America (1:07): MP3

Reading of "Syringa" for WNYC's 50th Anniversary, June 13, 1994

• Complete recording (5:48): MP3

Reading and interview on The Book Show, 1992

Hosted by Tom Smith, The Book Show was produced by the New York State Writers Institute at SUNY Albany.
On this program, Ashbery discusses Flow Chart (1991) and Hotel Lautréamont (1992).
1. reading "Light Turnouts" (0:43): MP3
2. introduction (0:56): MP3
3. the writing of Hotel Lautreamont and the figure of Lautreamont (3:43): MP3
4. discussing the title poem and the implications of the hotel (3:58): MP3
5. when the poems in Hotel Lautreamont were written in relation to Flow Chart (1:21): MP3
6. deciding to write short v. long poems (2:55): MP3
7. the evolution of Flow Chart (1:10): MP3
8. Ashbery describing his writing process (3:44): MP3
9. cultural noise as inspiration and all-inclusivness as an overriding aesthetic concern (3:15): MP3
10. abstract expressionism in relation to his poetry (2:13): MP3
Complete program (25:09): MP3

Reading excerpts from Flow Chart on WBAI Radio, New York. April 25, 1991

Complete recording (16:53): MP3

"Poets Reading in the Village", April 25, 1991

Complete recording (37:42): MP3

1. Introduction (3:00): MP3
2. Elephant Visitors (1:59): MP3
3. The Youth's Magic Horn (3:06): MP3
4. Withered Compliments (1:17): MP3
5. In My Way / On My Way (5:12): MP3
6. Private Syntax (1:18): MP3
7. Korean Soap Opera (4:10): MP3
8. Of Linnets and Dull Time (1:06): MP3
9. From Flow Chart (15:21): MP3

Tracks 2-8 can be found in Hotel Lautréamont (1992), track 9 is from Flow Chart (1991)

Reading at the University at Buffalo with Intro by Carl Dennis, New York, November 1, 1990

Readings from Some Trees, TCO, A Wave, and The Vermont Notebook; Event sponsored by the Poetry Society of America

Complete recording (46:33): MP3

From Incognito Lounge: reading in San Jose, CA, September 14, 1990

• Complete reading (quality deteriorates towards end) (49:43): MP3

Reading and Colloquium for the Modern Languages Auditorium, University of Arizona, September 12, 1990

1. Introduction (1:45): MP3
2. And now I cannot remember how I would have had it (3:47): MP3
3. Avant de quitter ces lieux (4:51): MP3
4. Still Life with Stranger (1:25): MP3
5. Hotel Lautreamont (6:40): MP3
6. In Vain, Therefore (1:00): MP3
7. From Palookaville (3:32): MP3
8. Notes from the Air (2:40): MP3
9. Autumn Telegram (2:21): MP3
10. Korean Soap Opera (4:23): MP3
11. from Flow Chart (9:22): MP3
• Complete Reading (45:01): MP3 [note: recording cuts off at the end]
• Colloquium (45:01): MP3

Reading at the San Francisco Art Institute, December 1989

• Complete recording (59:18): MP3



Norton Lecture Series on Laura Riding, 1990

Lecture: "The Unthronged Oracle:" Laura Riding (49:15): MP3
1. looking back at the writers so far discussed in the series (2:57): MP3
2. providing a brief biography of Riding (10:52): MP3
3. on Riding's attempts to control the way her poetry is read (1:48): MP3
4. on Riding's intimidating astuteness as a critic of poetry (6:17): MP3
5. on criticisms of Riding's poetry (2:08): MP3
6. difficulty and accuracy in the work of Riding's early period (5:20): MP3
7. reading and discussing Sonnets I and IV of "Sonnets in Memory of Samuel" (6:17): MP3
8. reading and discussing "No More Are Lovely Palaces" (2:51): MP3
9. on Riding's influence (2:03): MP3
10. on the necessity of misreading Riding and ignoring her promises (1:18): MP3
11. quoting Julian Symons on Riding's poetic achievements (0:55): MP3
12. reading "In Nineteen Twenty-Seven" (6:20): MP3

Norton Lecture on Raymond Roussel, 1990

• Introduction (1:13): MP3
• Lecture: The Bachelor Machines of Raymond Roussel (48:45): MP3

Norton Lecture on David Schubert, 1990

• Introduction (2:50): MP3
• Lecture: David Schubert: "This Is the Book That No One Knows" (39:32): MP3

Norton Lecture on John Wheelwright, 1990

• Introduction (0:51): MP3
• Lecture: "Why Must You Know:" The Poetry of John Wheelwright (50:29): MP3

These lectures were later revised and published as Other Traditions (Harvard University Press, 2001). Special thanks to the Woodberry Poetry Room at Harvard University for providing these recordings.

Charles Eliot Norton Lecture Series, Other Traditions, Harvard University, 1989-1990

Norton Lecture on John Clare, 1989

• Introduction (4:20): MP3
• Lecture: John Clare: "Grey Openings Where the Light Looks Through" (45:13): MP3

Norton Lecture on Thomas Lovell Beddoes, 1989

• Introduction (1:30): MP3
• Lecture: Olives and Anchovies: The Poetry of Thomas Lovell Beddoes (48:57): MP3

Reading at 92nd Street Y with James Schuyler, November 23, 1989

1. Riddle Me (1:43): MP3
2. Alone in the Lumber Business (2:36): MP3
3. Vaucanson (2:22): MP3
4. Some Money (1:11): MP3
5. Still Life with Stranger (1:12): MP3
6. In Vain, Therefore (0:58): MP3
7. Revisionist Horn Concerto (2:21): MP3
8. From Palookaville (3:36): MP3
9. "And now I cannot remember how I would have had it" (1:58): MP3
10. Film Noir (3:11): MP3
11. Notes from the Air (2:31): MP3
12. The Little Black Dress (0:49): MP3
13. Le Mensonge de Nina Petrovna (1:41): MP3
14. Avant de quitter ces lieux (4:27): MP3
15. Autumn Telegram (2:39): MP3
• Ashbery Reading (34:48): MP3
• Complete recording with James Schuyler (1:21:34): MP3

Ashbery recording from the Ben Tripp Tapes (38:22): MP3

Reading at the Poets' Corner Vespers Service for the Induction of Wiliam Faulkner and Wallace Stevens, The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, NYC, October 22, 1989

Reading from Wallace Stevens' "An Ordinary Evening in New Haven"

1. Part Three (1:26): MP3
2. Part Five (1:02): MP3
3. Part Twelve (1:01): MP3
4. Part Seventeen (1:06): MP3
5. Part Eighteen (0:57): MP3
6. Part Thirty (1:08): MP3
• Complete reading (7:02): MP3
• Complete service (56:40): MP3

John Ashbery reads Eliot as part of "In Different Voices: T.S. Eliot at 100," organized by Richard Howard, Symphony Space, New York City, October 22, 1988

• Ashbery's Intro (4:02): MP3
• Marina (2:08): MP3
• Animula (2:14): MP3

Recording for Radio Helicon, hosted by John Tranter, ABC, June 19, 1988

John Ashbery (in New York) was interviewed by John Tranter (in Sydney), in May 1988. This interview was edited by John Tranter, and broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio National program 'Radio Helicon', on Sunday 19 June 1988, from 8.15 to 10.00 p.m., with other material.

A partial text of this interview appears in Jacket Magazine's second issue, available here.

1. "Paradoxes and Oxymorons" (1:09): MP3
2. introduction by John Tranter (1:08): MP3
3. "Two Scenes" (1:08): MP3
4. "Picture of a Little JA in a Prospect of Flowers" (2:53): MP3
5. "Some Trees" (1:00): MP3
6. John Ashbery in discussion with John Tranter (8:31): MP3
7. introduction to "Thoughts of a Young Girl" (0:39): MP3
8. "Thoughts of a Young Girl (0:39): MP3
9. "Last Month" (0:59): MP3
10. John Ashbery in discussion with John Tranter (9:56): MP3
11. John Tranter introducing Imre Salusinszky's review of Selected Poems (0:30): MP3
12. Imre Salausinszky (7:03): MP3
13. "The Painter" (2:05): MP3
14. Imre Salausinszky (5:55): MP3
15. "Worsening Situation" (1:51): MP3
16. Imre Salausinszky (7:24): MP3
17. musical interlude: from Arvo Pärt's Arbos (6:04): MP3
18. "Forties Flick" (1:27): MP3
19. introduction to "Soonest Mended" (0:49): MP3
20. "Soonest Mended" (4:52): MP3
21. John Tranter introducing Philip Mead (0:36): MP3
22. Philip Mead discussing Self Portrait in a Convex Mirror (26:59): MP3
23. introduction to "And Ut Pictura Poesis Is Her Name" (0:37): MP3
24. "And Ut Pictura Poesis Is Her Name" (1:43): MP3
25. discussion of "And Ut Pictura Poesis Is Her Name" (4:45): MP3
26. "My Erotic Double" (0:59): MP3
27. "Or In My Throat" (1:06): MP3
28. "Purists will Object" (1:18): MP3
29. "Paradoxes and Oxymorons" (1:09): MP3
30. closing remarks (0:53): MP3
• Complete recording (1:42:49): MP3

Reading in Boyslston Hall, Harvard University, November 10, 1987

Provided by: The Poets' Theater and Woodberry Poetry Room, Harvard Univeristy Library

1. introduction by Stratis Haviaras (3:45): MP3
2. Some Trees (1:33): MP3
[see text-audio alignment]
3. Popular Songs (1:55): MP3
4. Glazunoviana (0:59): MP3
5. He (3:07): MP3
6. At North Farm (1:24): MP3
7. The Songs We Know Best (4:07): MP3
8. Landscape (After Baudelaire) (1:57): MP3
9. Just Walking Around (1:07): MP3
10. 37 Haiku (4:47): MP3
11. The Lonedale Operator (5:01): MP3
12. Vetiver (2:12): MP3
13. Riddle Me (2:04): MP3
14. Morning Jitters (1:49): MP3
15. A Snowball in Hell (1:34): MP3
16. A Mood of Quiet Beauty (0:52): MP3
17. When Half the Time They Don't Know Themselves (1:20): MP3
18. Adam Snow (3:04): MP3
19. The Ice Storm (10:05): MP3
20. April Galleons (4:08): MP3

Recording, 1983 and 1987

1. Rain Moving In (1:09): MP3
2. The Songs We Know Best (3:44): MP3
3. When The Sun Went Down (1:43): MP3
4. Paysage/Landscape (Baudelaire translation) (1:36) MP3
5. Just Walking Around (0:59): MP3
6. Thank You For Not Cooperating (1:54): MP3
7. The Ongoing Story (1:56): MP3
8. Excerpt from “A Wave” (12:41): MP3
9. It Is Not Visible (0:27): MP3
10. Homer (1:00): MP3
11. Bear Suz (1:35): MP3
12. Vetiver (2:18): MP3
13. Riddle Me (2:06): MP3
14. Morning Jitters (2:01): MP3
15. A Snowball in Hell (1:31): MP3
16. A Mood of Quiet Beauty (1:01): MP3
17. When Half The Time They Don’t Know Themselves (1:41): MP3
18. Adam Snow (2:37): MP3
19. Forgotten Song (2:30): MP3
20. Finnish Rhapsody (5:19): MP3
21. Alone in the Lumber Business (2:37): MP3
22. Vaucanson (2:28): MP3
23. A Big Cloud (2:06): MP3
24. April Galleons (2:53): MP3


• Side A (31:49): MP3
• Side B (31:35): MP3



Courtesy of Simon Pettet

Includes reading from "April Gallions", November 1987; reading from "A Wave", 1983; and "New Poems", 1987

John Ashbery and Peter Ackroyd in conversation, ICA Talks, The British Library, September 23, 1986

Complete recording (55:42): MP3

New Letters on the Air: a production of New Letters Magazine, University of Missouri, Kansas City, August 1986

Reading selected poems as his commencement address to students at the Kansas City Art Institute

1. introduction (1:48): MP3
2. Soonest Mended (6:25): MP3
3. Whatever It Is, Wherever You Are (6:08): MP3
4. The Songs We Know Best (4:32): MP3
5. from A Wave (5:50): MP3

Complete recording (27:00): MP3

WQXR Radio Program, New York, April 1986

Academy of American Poets Discussion with John Ashbery, Ned Rorem and June LeBell

April 6

Part One (31:56): MP3

1. setting poetry to music (4:46): MP3
   
2. appropriate poems and appropriate music (6:05): MP3
   
3. the singer's experience (2:05): MP3
   
4. on phrasing "Thoughts of a Young Girl" (3:15): MP3
   
5. reading and discussing "Fear of Death;" on composers in poetry (5:19): MP3
   
6. on having poetry set to music by Elliot Carter (7:12): MP3
   
7. on poets reading their own poetry, and the human voice (3:11): MP3
   
Part Two (7:25): MP3
on the history and mission of the Academy of American Poets

April 30

Complete recording (52:53): MP3

Reading at the Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, NM, November 20, 1985

Complete recording (1:17:41): MP3

1. Introduction (1:27): MP3
2. Two Scenes (2:33): MP3
3. Popular Letters (2:16): MP3
4. Thoughts of a Young Girl (1:21): MP3
5. The New Realism (2:13): MP3
6. Plainness and Diversity (1:56): MP3
7. Variations, Calypso and Feud (11:55): MP3
8. Chateau Hardware (0:46): MP3
9. Worsening Situation (2:48): MP3
10. The Other Tradition (2:33): MP3
11. The Gazing Grain (1:26): MP3
12. And Ut Pictura Poesis Is Her Name (3:26): MP3
13. At North Farm (2:26): MP3
14. The Songs We Know Best (4:18): MP3
15. Tableaux Parisiens (2:07): MP3
16. More Pleasant Adventures (1:30): MP3
17. A Wave (6:41): MP3
18. Finished Rapsody (7:19): MP3
19. Vettiver (2:11): MP3
20. A Mood of Quiet (1:03): MP3
21. October at the Window (2:53): MP3
22. Forgotten Song (2:56): MP3
23. Someone You Have Seen Before (4:49): MP3

Reading at Harvard University as part of the Morris Gray Lecture Series, October 16, 1985

Provided by: The Poets' Theater and Woodberry Poetry Room, Harvard Univeristy Library

1. introductionn (4:08): MP3
2. The Task (5:05): MP3
3. Variations, Calypso and Fugue on a Theme of Ella Wheeler Wilcox (12:07): MP3
4. For John Clare (4:26): MP3
5. The Chateau Hardware (0:49): MP3
6. The Other Tradition (2:45): MP3
7. The Couple in the Next Room (0:55): MP3
8. And Ut Pictura Poesis is Her Name (0:49): MP3
9. At North Farm (1:59): MP3
10. The Songs We Know Best (4:24): MP3
11. Landscape (After Baudelaire) (1:57): MP3
12. A Wave (excerpt): (5:59): MP3
13. A Mood of Quiet Beauty (1:13): MP3
14. October at the Window (2:41): MP3
15. Disguised Zenith (1:49): MP3
16. Forgotten Song (2:28): MP3
17. Vetiver (2:36): MP3
18. Vaucanson (3:05): MP3
19. Someone You Have Seen Before (5:45): MP3

Reading at UCSD, May 9, 1985

• Complete Recording, (1:06:02)MP3

Reading at the San Francisco Art Institute (organized with the American Poetry Archive at San Francisco State), December 5, 1984

Watch on Media.sas
• Complete video recording (57:04)
• Complete audio recording (55:36): MP3



Appearing on NPR's Morning Edition for the Academy of American Poets' 50th Anniversary, September 22, 1983

• Complete recording (4:41): MP3

Recording from the Ben Tripp Tapes, St. Mark's Church and CBGB's Benefit, 1971-1983

1. Reading from “The System” (47:36): MP3
2. Reading from “The System” cont’d (41:41): MP3
3. My Erotic Double (1:08): MP3
4. Rain Moving In (0:58): MP3
5. The Songs We Know Best (3:18): MP3
• Side A (47:36): MP3
• Side B (47:15): MP3

Includes readings from St. Mark's Church, May 26, 1971; CBGB's Benefit, c. 1980; and St. Mark's Church, May 4, 1983

Appearing with Robert Creeley in "Attitudes Towards the Flame," part of "The Territory of Art" radio series, produced and (c) by Museum of Comtemporary Art, Los Angeles, 1983

written by Julia Brown, produced by Ara Guzelimian

1. program introduction (1:19): MP3
2. introduction to John Ashbery (2:13): MP3
3. writing about a subject versus impressions, and preoccupations with time in Ashbery's poetry (0:46): MP3
4. on Three Poems (1:28): MP3
5. from "The System" (2:49): MP3
6. the expectation of literal, sequential understanding (1:08): MP3
7. on "Syringa" and Elliott Carter's music (1:21): MP3
8. Syringa (5:11): MP3
9. writing with an audience in mind (0:51): MP3
John Ashbery's portion of the recording (15:44): MP3

Complete program (28:40): MP3

Reading at the University of Arizona, November 4, 1980

1. introduction (0:59): MP3
2. Thoughts of a Young Girl (1:13): MP3
3. from The Skaters, Part II [excerpt] (9:51): MP3
4. Soonest Mended (5:39): MP3
5. It was raining in the Capital (3:18): MP3
6. Farm Implements and Rutabagas in a Landscape (4:55): MP3
7. from The System [excerpt] (6:45): MP3
8. from Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror [excerpt] (2:26): MP3
9. Street Musicians (1:32): MP3
10. The Other Tradition (2:17): MP3
11. The Couple in the Next Room (0:50): MP3
12. An Ut Pictura Poesis Is Her Name (2:51): MP3
13. The Ice-Cream Wars (2:09): MP3 (tape break at 0:41)
14. from Litany [excerpt] (6:40): MP3
Complete Reading, part one (44:56): MP3
Complete Reading, part two (12:15): MP3

"Litany," recorded with Ann Lauterbach, 1980

"Litany" originally appeared in As We Know (1979). A brief excerpt of this session previously appeared on the Giorno Poetry Systems album, Sugar, Alcohol and Meat in 1980.

• "Litany" part 1 (15:49): MP3
• "Litany" part 2 (54:40): MP3
• "Litany" part 3 (14:08): MP3

The Songs We Know Best, 1973 and 1988

Complete reading (61:40): MP3

Side One

1. Two Scenes (1:08): MP3
2. The Instruction Manual (7:05): MP3
3. And You Know (4:26): MP3
4. Thoughts of a Young Girl (0:46): MP3
5. It was Raining in the Capital (3:21): MP3
6. Far Implements and Rutabagas in a Landscape (4:07): MP3
7. And Ut Pictura Poesis Is Her Name (3:15): MP3
8. Landscape (After Baudelaire) (2:06): MP3
9. The Songs We Know Best (4:09):MP3

All selections on side one were recordered at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington D.C., on Febrauary 29, 1988. Special thanks to Gigi Bradford.

Side Two

1. Sonnet ("Each servant stamps the reader...") (0:46): MP3
2. "How Much Longer Will I Be Able to Inhabit the Divine Sepulcher..." (4:29): MP3
3. Rivers and Mountains (3:47): MP3
4. The Task (1:23): MP3
5. Song (1:27): MP3
6. The New Spirit (excerpt) (17:59): MP3

All selections on side two were recorded at the Library of Congress Recording Lab, Washington D.C., January 16, 1973.

• STAFF:
• Producer: Anne Becker
• Recording Engineer: Alan D. Austin (Side One)
• Post Production Engineer: Anne Becker
• Cover Design:Lynn Springer

Production of this tape was made possible in part by a grant from the Literature Program of the National Endowment for the Arts

Lecture on Giorgio de Chirico at the Poetry Project, NYC, March 22, 1979

part one (38:17): MP3
part two (30:28): MP3

Reading at the Science Center, Harvard University, November 9, 1978

1. introduction (0:48): MP3
2. Worsening Situation (2:53): MP3
3. Oleum Misericordia (3:44): MP3
4. The Other Tradition (2:43): MP3
5. The Ice-Cream Wars (2:39): MP3
6. Blue Sonata (3:01): MP3
7. Fantasia on a Nut Brown Maid (7:29): MP3
8. The Sun (2:18): MP3
9. Five Pedantic Pieces (3:03): MP3
10. The Haunted Landscape (5:19): MP3
11. My Erotic Double (1:10): MP3
12. Seeing is Believing (0:36): MP3
13. Knocking Around (3:05): MP3
14. Train Rising Out of the Sea (3:27): MP3
15. The Cathedral Is (2:09): MP3
16. A Sparkler (2:13): MP3
17. The Wine (1:56): MP3
18. Sleeping in the Corners of Our Lives (1:28): MP3
19. The Other Cindy (2:24): MP3
20. Landscape People (1:25): MP3
21. The Plural of Jack-in-the-Box (0:55): MP3
22. Litany (16:24): MP3
This recording is made available courtesy of the Woodberry Poetry Room at Harvard University.



Reading at San Diego State, October 12, 1978

• Complete Recording, (1:02:05)MP3

Segue Series Reading at the Ear Inn with Michael Lally, September 16, 1978

1. A Box and its Contents (1:42): MP3
2. The Heralding Shadows of a New Adventure (2:01): MP3
3. Haunted Landscape (3:28): MP3
4. Five Pedantic Pieces (1:02): MP3
5. The Cathedral Is (0:17): MP3
6. Silhouette (2:36): MP3
7. A Tone Poem (0:59): MP3
8. Metamorphosis (2:26): MP3
9. Sleeping in the Corners of Our Lives (1:21): MP3
10. from Litany (19:59): MP3
Complete reading (1:23:44): MP3

Benefit, May 24, 1978

• Complete recording (22:34): MP3
• Complete recording (22:40): MP3



Reading at UCSD, 1977

• Complete Recording, (37:39)MP3
• Recording courtesy of Michael Davidson

Appearing with Barbara Guest on P.E.N. Portraits, hosted by Anne Fremantle, WNYC, May 22, 1977

1. introduction (3:42): MP3
2. responding to Emily Dickinson's statement that some words made her want to take off her hat to them (3:38): MP3
3. fondness of particular words (3:18): MP3
4. commenting on teaching poetry (1:19): MP3
5. John Ashbery reading "And Ut Pictura Poesis Is Her Name" (1:54): MP3
6. John Ashbery reading "What Is Poetry" (0:46): MP3
7. Barbara Guest reading "June" (1:04): MP3
8. Barbara Guest reading "Passage" (1:33): MP3
9. John Ashbery reading from "Three Poems" (1:22): MP3
10. breaking down the division between ideas and words (4:19): MP3
11. starting with a title and theme v. letting the poem develop as it comes along (4:30): MP3
12. closing comments (1:28): MP3
Complete program (28:52): MP3

Recording from the Naropa Institute Archives, 1976

Complete recording (45:03): MP3

Reading at Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, May 17, 1977

part one (42:25): MP3

1. introduction (4:20): MP3
2. passage from The New Spirit (20:52): MP3
3. Street Musicians (1:37): MP3
4. The Other Traditions (2:17): MP3
5. Collective Dawns (2:57): MP3
6. Wooden Buildings (1:13): MP3
7. Pyrogaphy (ends prematurely) (7:38): MP3

part two (16:36): MP3

1. Daffy Duck in Hollywood (beginning cut off) (7:09): MP3
2. Blue Sonata (8:46): MP3

Reading at Sanders Theater, Harvard University, sponsored by the Woodberry Poetry Room, May 16, 1976

Complete reading (1:07:10): MP3


1. introduction (1:14): MP3
2. Street Musicians (1:36): MP3
3. Pyrography (6:19): MP3
4. Bird's Eye View of the Tool and Die Co. (1:10): MP3
5. Collective Dawns (2:40): MP3
6. The Couple in the Next Room (0:42): MP3
7. Variant (1:08): MP3
8. Daffy Duck in Hollywood (9:19): MP3
9. Melodic Trains (3:32): MP3
10. Wet Casements (1:44): MP3
11. The Wrong Kind of Insurance (2:45): MP3
12. Business Personals (4:35): MP3
13. Unctuous Platitudes (1:07): MP3
14. Friends (2:06): MP3
15. The Lament Upon the Waters (2:45): MP3
16. Worsening Situation (2:32): MP3
17. Poem in Three Parts: Love, Courage, I Love the Sea (3:22): MP3
18. Mixed Feelings (2:05): MP3
19. Oleum Misericordiae (3:01): MP3
20. Variations, Calypso and Fugue on a Theme of Ella Wheeler Wilcox (9:13): MP3
21. Farm Implements and Rutabagas in a Landscape (3:04): MP3

Courtesy of the Woodberry Poetry Room, Harvard University.

Reading in Buffalo, October 15, 1975

Complete reading (46:15): MP3

1. Farm Implements and Rutabagas in a Landscape (2:52): MP3
2. Summer (1:34): MP3
3. It Was Raining in the Capitol (2:40): MP3
4. Variations, Calypso and Fugue on a Theme of Ella Wheeler WIlcox (10:22): MP3
5. The Chateau Hardware (0:38): MP3
6. The Task (1:19): MP3
7. Parergon (2:31): MP3
8. Soonest Mended (4:47): MP3
9. The New Spirit (excerpt) (6:45): MP3
10. Worsening Situation (1:55): MP3
11. Scheherazade (4:20): MP3
12. Mixed Feelings (2:41): MP3

Potpourri of Poetry Reading at the Naropa Institute, Summer 1975

John Ashbery's segment (reading "Wet Casements") (3:19): MP3

Reading for WBAI-FM, Produced by Susan Howe, New York, May 14 and June 7, 1975

Complete reading, May 14 (32:41): MP3

1. Business Personals (5:09): MP3
2. Syringa (5:28): MP3
3. Worsening Situation (2:21): MP3
4. Forties Flick (1:33): MP3
5. As You Came from the Holy Land (2:05): MP3
6. Scheherazade (3:57): MP3
7. The Tomb of Stuart Merrill (2:56): MP3
8. The One Thing that Can Save America (2:20): MP3
9. As One Put Drunk into the Packet Boat (2:22): MP3
10. Oleum Misericordiae (2:19): MP3

Complete reading, June 7 (20:04): MP3

1. Daffy Duck in Hollywood (7:55): MP3
2. And Ut Pictura Poesis Is Her Name (1:53): MP3
3. Unctuous Platitudes (1:11): MP3
4. Explaination (2:09): MP3
5. On the Towpath (2:30): MP3
6. Mixed Feelings (2:05): MP3

Reading at the Cambridge Poetry Festival, Cambridge, April 19, 1975

1. Introduction (0:45): MP3
2. Thoughts of a Young Girl (0:45): MP3
3. A Blessing in Disguise (1:51): MP3
4. The Task (1:25): MP3
5. Soonest Mended (4:12): MP3
6. Summer (1:33): MP3
7. It Was Raining in the Capital (2:34): MP3
8. Variations, Calypso and Fugue on a Theme of Ella Wheeler Wilcox (10:06): MP3
9. For John Clare (3:37): MP3
10. Farm Implements and Rutabagas in a Landscape (3:51): MP3
11. The Chateau Hardware (0:49): MP3
12. Valentine (6:27): MP3
13. On the Towpath (2:39): MP3
14. And Ut Pictura Poesis Is Her Name (1:52): MP3
15. Daffy Duck in Hollywood (3:31): MP3

Reading and Discussion, Library of Congress, 1975

"Mr. Ashbery reads two poems from his collection entitled Some trees; two from Rivers and mountains; two from The double dream of spring; one from Self-portrait in a convex mirror; and three of his other poems. Stanley Kunitz introduces the poet and moderates the discussion." - Library of Congress Catalog

Complete recording (1:02:21): MP3

1. Introduction (8:44): MP3
2. Two Scenes / Popular Songs (3:15): MP3
3. The Recent Past (1:25): MP3
4. A Blessing in Disguise (1:34): MP3
5. Soonest Mended (5:01): MP3
6. It Was Raining in the Capital (3:29): MP3
7. Worsening Situation (2:25): MP3
8. Street Musicians (1:27): MP3
9. Daffy Duck in Hollywood (8:56): MP3
10. And Ut Pictura Poesis Is Her Name (2:22): MP3

Recording courtesy of Library of Congress

WBAI Broadcast, 1974

• Complete recording (5:09): MP3
• Kush dub complete recording (30:35): MP3



Appearing at Poetry's 19th Annual Poetry Day, WFMT Chicago, November 17, 1973

Note: Ashbery read with John Hollander at this reading, as is alluded to in the introduction

Complete recording (41:25): MP3

From Some Trees (1956)

1. Introduction (3:03): MP3
2. Two Scenes (1:30): MP3
3. Popular Songs (1:40): MP3
4. The Grapevine (0:35): MP3
5. Glazunoviana (0:32): MP3
6. Sonnet ("Each servant stamps the reader with a look.") (0:45): MP3
7. And You Know (3:52): MP3

from The Tennis Court Oath (1962)

8. They Dream Only of America (1:25): MP3
9. Thoughts of a Young Girl (0:39): MP3
10. Faust (2:28): MP3

From The Double Dream of Spring (1970)

11. Soonest Mended (5:07): MP3
12. Variations, Calypso and Fugue on a Theme of Ella Wheeler Wilcox (9:28): MP3

from Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror (1975)

13. Forties Flick (1:45): MP3
14. On Autumn Lake (2:04): MP3
15. Scheherazade (4:31): MP3

Interview with Brett Lauer, May 27, 1973, Published in fall 1974 issue of Confrontation

Side 1 (30:07): MP3

1. Ashbery's Biography (7:16): MP3
2. How Does One Read Ashbery's Poetry? (4:23): MP3
3. An Ideal Reader (3:11): MP3
4. Opaqueness (2:58): MP3
5. "Very American" Poetry (3:21): MP3
6. Translation From French to English (1:41): MP3
7. Recieving the Guggenheim Fellowship (0:27): MP3
8. Influences on Ashbery's Poetry (6:08): MP3

Side 2 (30:07): MP3

1. Themes in Ashbery's Poetry (0:43): MP3
2. Review of "The Tennis Court Oath" (1:57): MP3
3. On "Three Prose Poems" (2:19): MP3
4. Ashbery's Poetics (1:15): MP3
5. On The New York School (1:42): MP3
6. Influence of New York Art (2:41): MP3
7. Art News' Influence on Ashbery (1:13): MP3
8. On Imitating Léger (1:52): MP3
9. Ashbery and O'Hara (1:19): MP3
10. Doctoral Candidate (1:43): MP3
11. Ashbery's Potential Influence (0:34): MP3
12. Mannerisms (1:11): MP3
13. Relationship with W.H. Auden (2:00): MP3
14. Auden's Influence (1:54): MP3
15. On Auden's Preface to "Some Trees" (2:46): MP3
16. On "Europe" (3:43): MP3

Side 3 (11:16): MP3

1. On "Europe" (Continued) (1:05): MP3
2. Ashbery's Experimental Nature (2:43): MP3
3. Action Paintings and "The Tennis Court Oath" (0:20): MP3
4. The Search for a Poetic Voice (1:51): MP3
5. Modern Paintings' Influence (1:54): MP3
6. Music's Influence on Ashbery's Poetry (2:14): MP3

Reading in the American Poetry Archive at San Francisco State, Introduction by Kathleen Fraser, May 16, 1973

Watch on Media.sas
• Complete recording (58:12)

"The Writing of John Ashbery" with host A. Poulin Jr., Brockport Writers Forum, November 27, 1972


Media.SAS URL link: MP4

Reading Collected in 'The Spoken Word: American Poets' by BBC-British Library, August 21, 1972

1. Farm Implements and Rutabagas in a Landscape (2:48): MP3
2. Variations, Calypso and Fugue on a Theme of Ella Wheeler Wilcox (8:36): MP3

Reading at the New York Studio School, New York, April 3, 1970

Complete recording (1:14:12): MP3

Reading "My Erotic Double" at St. Mark's Poetry Project

• Complete recording (1:08): MP3

Another Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project, New York

• Complete recording (5:27): MP3



Reading at St. Mark's Poetry Project, New York

• Complete recording (43:44): MP3



Reading at YM-YWHA, with an introduction by Richard Howard. Episode #23157: "The Poetry of John Ashbery," March 27, 1967

1. program introduction (0:23): MP3
2. introduction by Richard Howard (5:35): MP3
3. The Chateau Hardware (0:40): MP3
4. Song (0:43): MP3
5. Of the Patterned Bedspread (1:27): MP3
6. The Bungalows (4:20): MP3
7. Black Thorn (1:11): MP3
8. Decoy (1:52): MP3
9. Definition of Blue (1:50): MP3
10. French Poems (1:48): MP3

Complete Reading (20:22): MP3

Reading at the University at Buffalo, New York, November 18, 1966

Readings from The Tennis Court Oath, The Double Dream of Spring, Rivers and Mountains, and Some Trees; introduced by Oscar A. Silverman

Complete reading (32:23): MP3

Interview with Bruce Kawin on WKCR Radio, May 5, 1966

1. introduction (0:33): MP3
2. These Lacustrine Cities (2:19): MP3
3. offering one explanation or reading of the poem (13:00): MP3
4. These Lacustrine Cities (second reading) (1:29): MP3
5. Rivers and Mountains (3:55): MP3
6. Last Month (0:53): MP3
7. Civilization and its Discontents (2:11): MP3
8. The Ecclesiast (2:18): MP3
9. closing remarks (0:31): MP3

Complete Reading (27:38): MP3

Reading at the Washington Square Art Gallery, NYC, August 23, 1964

1. The Tennis Court Oath (2:08): MP3
2. They Dream Only of America (0:56): MP3
3. Thoughts of a Young Girl (0:33): MP3
4. Rain (3:50): MP3
5. The Suspended Life (3:16): MP3
6. The Skaters (47:53): MP3 [5-minute excerpt from part 1]
Complete reading (1:00:14): MP3

Note: Bill Berkson gave the introduction at this event. The gallery reading was organized by Ruth Kligman, and the reading of "The Skaters" was the first ever. It is Berkson's recollection that the standing-room-only audience included Edwin Denby, Frank O'Hara, and "many of the younger New York poets (Padgett, Berrigan, Towle, Shapiro) and also Andy Warhol."


Reading at The Living Theatre, New York City, September 16, 1963

• Complete reading (52:51): MP3
1. Introduction by Kenneth Koch (2:35): MP3

From Rivers and Mountains (1966) (except for those marked with *)

2. Rivers and Mountains (3:57): MP3
3. The Ecclesiast (2:32): MP3
4. The Adirondacks* (3:26): MP3
5. These Lacustrine Cities (1:40): MP3
6. Balance of Payments (3:02): MP3
7. To a Waterfowl* (3:07): MP3
8. Into the Dusk-Charged Air (3:55): MP3

from Some Trees (1956)

9. Two Scenes (1:07): MP3
10. Popular Songs (1:39): MP3
11. The Instruction Manual (5:28): MP3
12. Sonnet ("Each servant stamps the reader with a look") (0:44): MP3
13. The Young Son (1:26): MP3
14. And You Know (3:44): MP3

from The Tennis Court Oath (1962)

15. "They Dream Only of America" (1:09): MP3
16. The Suspended Life (4:15): MP3
17. A Life Drama (3:02): MP3
18. Our Youth (1:58): MP3
19. Landscape (1:25): MP3
20. A Last World (cuts off abruptly) (0:56): MP3

92nd Street Y (New York), reading from Some Trees, April 3, 1952

(30:17): 92Y public Link
PennSound archive link (public release Spring 2014)

92nd Street Y (New York), reading from Some Trees, April 3, 1952

(30:17): 92Y public Link
PennSound archive link (public release Spring 2014)

Performing Everyman at Christ Church Parish House, Cambridge, MA, February 26, 1951

Starring Connaught O'Connell as Columbine, David Bowen as Everyman and Jerry Kohn as Death

Provided by: The Poets' Theater and Woodberry Poetry Room, Harvard University Library

Recording (13:23): MP3


(Andrew Epstein discusses this event and shares Daniel Ellsberg's Harvard Crimson review)

Recording, Date Unknown

• Complete Recording, (55:30)MP3

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Also Of Interest:

• Celebration of Ashbery's translation of Illuminations at The Poetry Project:
  Part 1 (40:20): MP3
  Part 2 (48:02): MP3
• They Dream Only of America (Recorded July 22, 1994, in Hudson, NY) (1:07): MP3
• Setting Poetry to Music Discussion with Ned Rorem (date and location unknown) (1:14:38): MP3
• Niels Plenge, Lars Movin, and Thomas Thurah, "Something Wonderful May Happen" (2001) on the New York School, documentary: mp4
• Digital edition of The Skaters, ed. Robin Seguy: EPC.

---

John Ashbery on PennSound Daily

• February 13, 2011: "New PennSound Featured Resources Selected by Marcella Durand"
• July 29, 2010: "Six Poets Teach One Short Poem to High School Students"
• July 28, 2010: "PennSound Wishes John Ashbery a Happy Birthday"
• January 26, 2010: "John Ashbery: Two Newly Segmented Broadcasts, 1988 and 2009"
• January 19, 2010: "John Ashbery: "Everyman" at the Poets' Theatre, Harvard University, 1951"
• October 19, 2009: "John Ashbery Week, Plus PennSound Daily's Anniversary"
• October 20, 2009: "John Ashbery Week, Day 2: New Letters on the Air and Radio Helicon"
• October 20, 2009: "John Ashbery Week, Day 3: "Attitudes Towards the Flame" (with Robert Creeley) and Reading T.S. Eliot"
• October 22, 2009: "John Ashbery Week, Day 4: WNYC and Academy of American Poets Anniversaries, Modern Languages Auditorium"
• October 23, 2009: "John Ashbery Week, Day 5: With James Schuyler at the 92nd Street Y, 1989"
• May 18, 2009: "John Ashbery: Staged Reading of "The Compromise," Paris, 2007"
• April 6, 2009: "John Ashbery: New York Review of Books Podcast, 2009"
• January 30, 2009: "John Ashbery on Susan Howe's Pacifica Radio Program, 1975"
• January 14, 2009: "John Ashbery: Four New Recordings"
• September 8, 2008: "Selections from the Key West Literary Seminar"
• August 16, 2008: "PoemTalk #9: John Ashbery's 'Crossroads in the Past'"
• July 18, 2008: "John Ashbery: Four New Readings from the 1960s and 70s"
• April 2, 2008: "John Ashbery Reading at Haverford College"
• February 19, 2008: "John Ashbery: Several New Recordings Added"
• February 7, 2008: "John Ashbery: A Complete 'Litany', read with Ann Lauterach"
• December 28, 2007: "John Ashbery: Two New Recordings from 1991-1992"
• November 26, 2007: "John Ashbery's The Songs We Know Best"
• October 26, 2007: "John Ashbery's 1994 reading of 'They Dream Only Of America'"
• October 25, 2007: "John Ashbery's 2007 reading at Mo Pitkin's"
• October 24, 2007: "John Ashbery In Conversation with Al Filreis, 2002"
• October 23, 2007: "John Ashbery's 2002 Reading at KWH"
• October 22, 2007: "John Ashbery at Ear Inn"

These sound recordings are being made available for noncommercial and educational use only. All rights to this recorded material belong to the author. © 2007-20017 John Ashbery. Used with the permission of John Ashbery. Distributed by PennSound. With special thanks for The Flowchart Foundation's Ashbery Resource Center.