Heatstrings

collected & curated by A.L. Nielsen

PennSound pages from A.L. Nielsen's archives

• MLA Offsite Readings
• AWP Offsite Readings
• Incognito Lounge
• Convergence on Poetics

Nathaniel Tarn and Janet Rodney, Lute & Drum reading in Louisville, KY, February 23, 2018

Complete Recording (1:01:16): MP3

Reading by Wesley Rothman, Sally Wenn Mao and A.L. Nielsen at In Your Ear Series, D.C. Arts Center, Washington, D.C., February 17, 2018

• Group Photo
• Wesley Rothman (20:26): MP3
• A.L. Nielsen (25:21): MP3

Chinese American Association for Poetry Reading Los Angeles, CA, November 11, 2016

Group Reading (108:22): MP3

The readers in order:

• Eun-Gwi Chung
• Feng Yi
• Nicholas Karavatos
• Ling Jian-e
• Steven Tracy
• Lin Chen
• Susan Schultz
• Liu Kedong
• Luo Linaggong
• Jerry Ward
• Lv Aijing
• Lauri Ramey
• Young Suck Rhee
• Li Zhimin
• Sun Dong
• Wu Zhaofeng
• A.L. Nielsen
• Zeng Wei
• Charles Bernstein
• Zhang Er
• Youngman Kim
• Miles (?)

Rachel Blau DuPlessis reading for Heatstrings at Penn State, State College, PA, September 9, 2016

Rachel Blau DuPlessis at Heartstrings reading, Penn State, Sept 20, 2016

Complete reading (1:11:41): MP3

Full Panel Discussion (1:10:30): MP3

Complete Reading (45:23): MP3

Julie Patton reads at the AWP 2016 National Black Writers Conference, March 31, 2016

Complete reading (1:54:16): MP3

Readers in order (individual segments):

1. Dawn Lundy Martin (8:11): MP3
2. Harryette Mullen (2:33): MP3
3. Duriel Harris (5:25): MP3
4. Will Alexander (13:06): MP3
5. C.S. Giscombe (6:27): MP3
6. Harmony Holiday (2:32): MP3
7. Erica Hunt (7:24): MP3
8. Geoffrey Jacques (7:37): MP3
9. Douglas Kearney (5:18): MP3
10. Tracie Morris (11:03): MP3
11. Fred Moten (6:38): MP3
12. Julie Patton (13:20): MP3
13. Giovanni Singleton (8:50): MP3
14. Ronaldo Wilson (9:02): MP3

Full Reading (53:05): MP3

Group Reading at Alan Golding's Home, Louisville, KY, February 20, 2016

(click to enlarge photo)
Michael Heller and Alan Golding reading at Alan Golding's Home, February 20, 2016

Complete Reading (57:00): MP3

1. Introduction (0:49): MP3
2. Joshua Adams (2:42): MP3
3. Jane Augustine (5:44): MP3
4. John Kelly (3:07): MP3
5. Joe Donahue (6:36): MP3
6. Joel Duncan (1:51): MP3
7. Cecil Giscombe (3:48): MP3
8. Michael Heller (2:36): MP3
9. Jeanna Heuvig (5:45): MP3
10. David Kaufman (0:48): MP3
11. Burt Kimmelman (1:42): MP3
12. Nathaniel Mackey (3:13): MP3
13. Patrick Morrissey (2:58): MP3
14. Alan Nielsen (2:40): MP3
15. Mark Scroggins (4:17): MP3
16. Ken Taylor (1:12): MP3
17. Barry and Conclusion (6:20): MP3

WHAT I SAY Roundtable, Louisville, KY, February 19, 2016

(click to enlarge photo)
Pia Dias and C.S. Giscombe at the WHAT I SAY Roundtable, February 19, 2016

Complete reading (1:11:10): MP3

Poets from the anthology:

1. Pia Deas (11:37): MP3
2. C.S. Giscombe (13:56): MP3
3. Tyrone Williams (15:41): MP3
4. Nathaniel Mackey (15:39): Complete Recording

Chaired by Aldon Nielsen Q&A session with Aldon Nielsen and poets (28:50): MP3

1. Introduction by Aldon Nielsen (1:35): MP3
2. Response from Lauri Ramey (6:33): MP3
3. Nielsen on the title, "What I Say" (4:02): MP3
4. Nielsen on the cover illustration of the, "What I Say" Anthology (4:50): MP3
5. Nielsen on the term, "innovative" (3:46): MP3
6. Nathaniel Mackey on anthologizing his poetry (4:14): MP3
7. Poet Panel on the significance of the title of, "The Mingus Track" (3:43): MP3

Response from Lauri Ramey

Nathaniel Mackey Lute & Drum Reading, Louisville, KY, February 19, 2016

(click to enlarge photos)
Nathaniel Mackey reads for the Lute & Drum Series, February 19, 2015

Complete reading (45:53): MP3

Race, Ethnicity, and United States Poetry, MLA 2016, Austin, Texas, January 8, 2016

Organized and Moderated by Timothy Yu and Rachel Galvin

Panelists: Keith Leonard, Aldon Lynn Nielsen, Urayoan Noel, Sonya Posmentier

Respondent: Dorothy Wang

• Complete panel (1:12:06): MP3

Modernism Studies Association Group Reading, Boston, MA, November 20, 2015

• readers, in order:
•  
• Lesley Wheeler (04:41): MP3
• Daniel Tobin (05:14): MP3
• Stephen Burt (05:48): MP3
• Michael Forstrom (05:22): MP3
• Elizabeth Frost (05:50): MP3
• Cynthia Hogue (05:00): MP3
• Julia Lisella (04:19): MP3
• Susan McCabe (06:39): MP3
• A.L. Nielsen (04:50): MP3
• Jennifer Scappettone (07:04): MP3
• Lisa Sewell (06:56): MP3
• Don Wellman (08:34): MP3
• Tyrone Williams (03:34): MP3
•  
• Complete recording (1:15:29): MP3

Modernism Studies Association Group Reading, Pittsburgh, PA, November 7, 2014

Meta DuEwa Jones reads at the MSA Group Reading, November 7, 2014 (photo by A.L. Nielsen)

• readers, in order:
•  
• Lesley Wheeler (05:37): MP3
• Tyrone Williams (05:48): MP3
• Dan Tobin (04:40): MP3
• Elizabeth Savage (04:20):MP3
• Lisa Samuels (04:23): MP3
• A.L. Nielsen (04:11): MP3
• Julia Lisella (03:14): MP3
• Meta DuEwa Jones (03:31): MP3
• Cynthia Hogue (04:46): MP3
• Jeanne Heuving (05:35): MP3
• Elisabeth Frost (04:31): MP3
• Jan Beatty (04:42): MP3
• Rachel Blau DuPlessis (11:09): MP3
•  
• Complete recording (1:08:37): MP3

• Complete recording (55:19): MP3

Chinese American Association for Poetry and Poetics Conference, Central China Normal University - Wuhan, China. June 8, 2013.

1. Steve Tracy-Ma Rainey (poem by Sterling Brown) (09:11): MP3
2. A.L. Nielsen-Cecil's Train Set (02:24): MP3
3. A.L. Nielsen-Sunken Gardens (00:40): MP3
4. A.L. Nielsen-and I followed her to the station (00:55): MP3
5. A.L. Nielsen-Small Song (01:16): MP3
6. Young Suck Rhee-Farewell (03:51): MP3
7. Young Suck Rhee-Crane Pavilion (01:14): MP3
8. Yan Rong-Let's Compete in Our Pride (05:52): MP3
9. Yan Rong-Their Flowering Branches Hold Up Consonants (02:39): MP3
10. Jerry W. Ward, Jr.-Winter Solitude (03:32): MP3
11. John Zheng-Haojiubujian (03:21): MP3
12. Tan Xiaocui-A Sleeping White, White Rose (04:10): MP3
13. Susan Stewart-The Forest (04:20): MP3
14. Zhimin Li-A Promise (05:42): MP3
15. Hank Lazer-8 (In Transit) (08:29): MP3
16. Ma Yongbo-To Young Poets (06:19): MP3
17. Steve Tracy-The Weary Blues (poem by Langston Hughes) (07:06): MP3
18. Youngmin Kim-Azaleas (poem by Kim So-woi) (06:13): MP3
19. Youngmin Kim-Beside a Chrysanthemum (poem by Chong-ju Suh) (02:09): MP3
20. Youngmin Kim-Flower (poem by Kim Ch'un-su) (01:50): MP3
21. Yang Jian-One Kind of Love (04:41): MP3
22. Daniel Alnright-Water and Idol (02:15): MP3
23. Daniel Alnright-I Built You a House (01:08): MP3
24. Zou Huaishan-english title unknown (03:09): MP3
25. Tomiyama Hidetoshi-My Chest Is Now (poem by Miyazawa Kenji) (00:29): MP3
26. Tomiyama Hidetoshi-Again I Have a Fever (poem by Miyazawa Kenji) (00:48): MP3
27. Tomiyama Hidetoshi-Though My Hands Are Hot, My Feet Numb (poem by Miyazawa Kenji) (00:23): MP3
28. Tomiyama Hidetoshi-Fever, Gasps, Losing the Real (poem by Miyazawa Kenji) (01:12): MP3
29. Zhang Guangkui-unknown title (01:25): MP3
30. Zhang Guangkui-unknown title (05:02): MP3
31. Daniela Kato-The Houses (poem by Eugenio de Andrade) (04:35): MP3
32. Joan Qionglin Tan-On Stillness and Riprapping (05:05): MP3
33. Rachelle Linda Escamilla-Family History (01:42): MP3
34. Zhang Yi-To Sophia (02:37): MP3
35. Zhang Yi-To Sophia (trans. in to Chinese) (00:32): MP3
36. Zhang Yi-Worldy April (01:47): MP3
37. Zeng Wei-unknown title (04:13): MP3

A.L. Nielsen at the St. Mark's Poetry Project, New York, March 18, 2013

1. Cecil's Train Set (1:08): MP3
2. For Jayne Cortez (4:19): MP3
3. Sunken Gardens (1:00): MP3
4. Aldon D. (1:05): MP3
5. Good Advice (1:02): MP3
6. If It Isn't One Thing (2:32): MP3
7. from GHANA (3:59): MP3
8. Yellow VII (3:20): MP3
9. The Virginia Monologues (6:20): MP3
10. And I Followed Her To the Station" (0:43): MP3
11. Pendant (0:48): MP3

Joan Retallack, University of Louisville, Feb. 22, 2013 (intro: Alan Golding)

Ron Silliman reading from the The Alphabet: "Albany," at Penn State, October 9, 2012

• Complete reading (56:40): MP3

Rae Armantrout reading at Foster Auditorium, Penn State University, September 11, 2012

1. Introduction by A.L. Nielsen (4:29): MP3

From Money Shot (Wesleyan, 2011)

2. Prayers (2:15): MP3
3. Working Models (0:51): MP3
4. Fuel (0:46): MP3
5. The Gift (0:42): MP3
6. Bubble Wrap (1:41): MP3
7. Answer (0:40): MP3
8. Autobiography: Urn Burial (2:05): MP3
9. Soft Money (1:00): MP3
10. Advent (0:43): MP3
11. With (0:42): MP3
12. Exact (0:46): MP3
13. Money Talks (0:42): MP3
14. Long Green (0:49): MP3

From Just Saying (Wesleyan, 2013)

15. Scripture (1:35): MP3
16. Dress Up (0:52): MP3
17. Account, for Brian Keating (1:36): MP3
18. The Look (0:51): MP3
19. My Apocalypse (1:07): MP3
20. Arrivals (0:58): MP3
21. Action Poem (0:57): MP3
22. Scale (1:12): MP3
23. And (1:03): MP3
24. Treatment (0:46): MP3
25. Experts (0:59): MP3
26. Bargos (1:00): MP3

From The Matter (forthcoming)

27. Sonnet 3 (2:46): MP3
28. Conclusion (1:24): MP3
29. Itself (0:38): MP3
30. Chirality (1:18): MP3
31. Material (0:49): MP3
32. Flo (1:08): MP3
33. Sponsor (0:50): MP3
34. Personhood (0:45): MP3
35. End User (1:00): MP3
36. Believing (0:47): MP3
37. Head (0:34): MP3
38. Well (0:44): MP3
39. Control (0:54): MP3
40. The Future (0:45): MP3
41. The New Zombie (2:04): MP3

• Complete Reading (48:49): MP3

Recorded June 29, 2012; Featuring A.L. Nielsen, Catherine Wagner, Laura Hinton, Evie Shockley and Linda Russo.

• Catherine Wagner-A Well Is A Mine (partial) (03:07): MP3
• Catherine Wagner-Capitulation to the Total Poem (01:09): MP3
• Laura Hinton-Paris in the Sprintime (04:51): MP3
• Evie Shockley-Duck,Duck-Redux (02:23): MP3
• Evie Shockley-Post White (01:37): MP3
• Evie Shockley-You Can Say That Again Billy (02:06): MP3
• Evie Shockley-Miles's Muse (04:48): MP3
• Linda Russo-American Heritage Syntax (02:05): MP3
• Laura Hinton-Clairvoyage Le Royale (Shared Death Experience) (06:55): MP3
• Laura Hinton-Despuis (02:05): MP3
• Laura Hinton-Postcards Never Sent (01:51): MP3
• Laura Hinton-My French Swimming Pool (02:57): MP3
• A.L. Nielsen-Redevelopment (02:16): MP3
• A.L. Nielsen-Translations From the Rubic I (09:03): MP3
• A.L. Nielsen-Nannie Burroughs Avenue (03:27): MP3
• A.L. Nielsen-Evacuation Routes E and D (03:44): MP3
• Linda Russo-Geothermal Jardhiti (08:05): MP3
• Linda Russo-South Fork Palouse River (00:45): MP3

1. Introduction by Alan Golding (1:12): MP3
2. Norman Finkelstein reads Paul Bray (5:09): MP3
3. Joseph Donahue (5:49): MP3
4. Alan Golding reads Ed Dorn (7:15): MP3
   A for Ism (1:09): MP3
   An Opinion on a Matter of Public Safety (0:44): MP3
   The Russian Quote (0:32): MP3
   Correct usages of some words widely misused or abused in modern conversation & poetry (4:44): MP3
5. A.L. Nielson (3:23): MP3
6. Peter O'Leary (7:56): MP3
7. Jennifer Rupert (2:36): MP3
8. Mark Scroggins (6:08): MP3
9. Laura Richardson (4:00): MP3
10. Tyrone Williams (2:31): MP3
11. Norman Finkelstein (2:52): MP3

• Complete Reading (48:49): MP3

MLA Offsite Reading, At Town Hall Downstairs, Seattle, January 7, 2012

• Complete reading (2:56:18): MP3

1. Jen Bervin (2:21): MP3
2. Michael Davidson (4:53): MP3
3. Elizabeth Frost (4:37): MP3
4. Rachel Galvin (3:45): MP3
5. Judith Goldman (4:36): MP3
6. Rob Halpern (4:15): MP3
7. Jeanne Heuving (5:22): MP3
8. Cynthia Hogue (6:48): MP3
9. Robin Tremblay-McGaw (3:13): MP3
10. A.L. Nielsen (3:28): MP3
11. Jed Rasula (5:09): MP3
12. Kathy Lou Schultz (4:34): MP3
13. Barrett Watten (4:58): MP3
14. Tyrone Williams (4:08): MP3
15. Bob Perelman (4:35): MP3

• Complete reading (1:06:58): MP3

Ed Roberson, Reading and Presentation of the Stephen Henderson Award for Literature by the African American Literature and Culture Society, Boston, May 27, 2011

1. Introduction by A.L. Nielsen (4:50): MP3
2. Roberson Introduction (2:18): MP3
3. Etai-Eken (2:32): MP3
4. A Slim Volume Taken Into the Provinces (2:30): MP3
5. To See The Earth Before the End of the World (1:53): MP3
6. Topoi (3:29): MP3
7. Lunar Eclipse (1:52): MP3
8. The World, Then (2:35): MP3
9. Teapot Boiling, How to Begin the Day (0:56): MP3
10. Darkly (1:45): MP3
11. The Metaphor of Impressionsm-your skin (0:57): MP3
12. What the Tree Took, On the Table (1:32): MP3
13. Man with Three Degrees (1:24): MP3
14. Of the Earth (1:09): MP3

Complete Reading (31:29): MP3

Geoffrey Jacques (pictured right) reading at Penn State University, March 21, 2011

• complete reading (51:08): MP3

Reading at Alan Golding's House, February 26, 2011 — held in conjunction with the Louisville Conference on Literature and Culture since 1900

1. Ewa Chruschiel (4:46): MP3
2. Bob Archambeau (5:52): MP3
3. Jane Augustine (5:06): MP3
4. Jon Curley (0:33): MP3
5. Joe Donahue (3:07): MP3
6. Norman Finkelstein (5:47): MP3
7. Alan Golding reading the poems of Lorenzo Thomas (3:21): MP3
8. Carla Harryman (2:17): MP3
9. Mike Heller (2:43): MP3
10. Laura Hinton (3:37): MP3
11. Bill Howe (4:32): MP3
12. Grant Jenkins (6:21): MP3
13. Pete Moore (2:56): MP3
14. David Need (7:50): MP3
15. Aldon Nielsen (4:49): MP3
16. Kiki Petrosino (2:52): MP3
17. Mark Scroggins (3:50): MP3
18. Keith Tuma (10:53): MP3
19. Cathy Wagner (6:11): MP3
20. Barrett Watten (8:44): MP3
21. Amy Wright (3:18): MP3

• complete reading (1:39:26): MP3

Michael Heller (pictured left) with music composed by Ellen Fishman Johnson, reading at the University of Louisville, February 24, 2011

Videos of more collaborations between Michael Heller and Ellen Fishman Johnson can be found here.

C.S. Giscombe reading at the African American Literature and Culture Society, San Francisco, May 28, 2010

Reading at Alan Golding's House, February 20, 2010 — held in conjunction with the Louisville Conference on Literature and Culture since 1900

1. Introduction (1:14): MP3
2. Cris Cheek (4:04): MP3
3. Ewa Chrusciel (5:15): MP3
4. Pat Clifford (5:35): MP3
5. Joseph Donahue (4:23): MP3
6. Alan Golding reading the poems of Burt Hatlen (4:06): MP3
7. Norman Finkelstein (8:45): MP3
8. Bill Howe (2:46): MP3
9. A.L. Nielsen (4:21): MP3
10. Mark Scroggins (4:30): MP3
11. Michael Davidson (4:07): MP3
12. Interlude (2:22): MP3
13. Lisa Shapiro (2:00): MP3

• complete reading (53:28): MP3

Dawn Lundy Martin (pictured) reads at Penn State University, October 20, 2009

complete reading (35:26): MP3

A.L. Neilsen recordes Jackson Mac Low at the Conference on American Poetry of the 1940s, University of Maine, Orono, June 24 2004

Complete Reading (41:56): MP3

• Lorenzo Thomas (59:07): MP3
• A.L. Nielsen (33:20): MP3

Sterling Brown Panel at AWP, Baltimore, March 1, 2003

A. L. Nielsen and Lorenzo Thomas

• complete panel (1:07:09): MP3

A.L. Nielsen records David Bromige and Michael Davidson at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, April 23-24, 1998

April 23

David Bromige (43:48): MP3

1. Introduction by A.L. Nielsen (3:20): MP3

from Desire:
2. The Romance of the Automobile (1:52): MP3
3. The Art of Capitalsim (0:48): MP3

from Tiny Courts in a World Without Scales:
4. Community Leaders (1:49): MP3
5. Manana from Heaven (1:48): MP3
6. But One Dimension (1:18): MP3

from T as in Tether:
7. One (1:03): MP3
8. Two (0:18): MP3
9. Three (0:38): MP3
10. Four (0:39): MP3
11. Five (0:52): MP3

from "Initializing," "Establishing," and "Authenticizing":
12. Opening Comments (2:15): MP3
13. Initializing 2: To A Drawing Board (0:54): MP3
14. Initializing 7.5 Time Out (1:28): MP3
15. Establishing 3: A Location (2:00): MP3
16. Establishing 6: Not Myself Tonight (1:03): MP3
17. Establishing 11: A Spill (1:41): MP3
18. Establishing 12: E is for Elephant (1:11): MP3
19. Comments on Ganesha (1:01): MP3
20. Establishing 13: While You Were Out (1:26): MP3
21. Authenticizing 5: They Gain Control of My Time (1:55): MP3
22. Authenticizing 13 (1:58): MP3


23. from Not Saying Enough for the Death Penalty (2:10): MP3
24. Apology as Explanation (1:41): MP3
25. The Dream of Rod Stewart (1:53): MP3
26. I Never Write Couplets (3:37): MP3



Michael Davidson (38:19): MP3

1. Introduction by A.L. Nielsen (3:18): MP3

from Rewrites:
2. Subject Matter (2:18): MP3
3. You Were Saying (2:46): MP3

from Post Hoc:
4. Thinking the Alps (5:09): MP3
5. Troth (1:15): MP3
6. The Terror (1:18): MP3


7. "The Analogy of the Ion" (4:46): MP3

from The Arcades:
8. Correspondence (2:55): MP3
9. Intention (1:07): MP3
10. Mapping (1:00): MP3
11. Zombies (1:12): MP3
12. Translation (1:56): MP3
13. The Autobiography Project (3:09): MP3
14. My Invisible (1:41): MP3
15. Henry James in Hoboken (0:48): MP3
16. final poem (1:37): MP3

April 24

• David Bromige and Michael Davidson discuss each other's work (1:21:73): MP3

Keorapetse Kgositsile reading at UCLA, 5 May 1996

Courtesy of Aldon Nielson

• Part One (46:54): MP3
• Part Two (11:23): MP3

Rae Armantrout, A.L. Nielsen, and Charles Altieri present at the American Literature Association, San Diego, May 1992

1. Rae Armantrout (23:06): MP3
2. A.L. Nielsen (22:45): MP3
3. Charles Altieri (28:13): MP3
4. Q&A (16:57): MP3

Complete reading (1:32:13): MP3

• Norma Cole (24:38): MP3
• Ronald Johnson (47:26): MP3

A.L. Nielsen records Charles Bernstein

• Bick's Books, Washington, DC, December 28, 1989 (follow link for segmented tracks)
• UC-Berkeley, February 7, 1995, introduced by Douglas Messerli (35:21): MP3
• Sun & Moon Press salon, Los Angeles, February 28, 1998 (recored by A.L. Nielsen): (19:58) MP3

Hugh Walthall Reading in Washington, D.C., July 23, 1989

• Complete reading (27:07): MP3

See Also:

• A.L. Nielsen on Close Listening
• complete reading (25:38): MP3
• conversation with Charles Bernstein (31:24): MP3
• segmented reading here

Heatstrings on PennSound Daily

• March 15, 2010: "New Heatstrings Recordings of Dawn Lundy Martin, A.L. Nielsen"
• February 22, 2010: "New Heatstrings: Reading at Alan Golding's House, 2010"
• December 16, 2009: "New Heatstrings Recordings from Bromige, Davidson, Thomas, Nielsen"




These sound recordings are being made available for noncommercial and educational use only. All rights to this recorded material belong to the author. (c) 2025 by the author. Used with permission of A.L. Nielsen. Distributed by PennSound.