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Tom Leonard

PoemTalk #80, Discussing Tom Leonard's “Three Texts for Tape: The Revolt of Islam”, feat. Jenn McCreary, Joe Milutis, and Leonard Schwartz

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

Selected Poems, Recorded at the Scottish Trades Union Congress Centre, Glasgow, April 29th, 2011

  1. The Dropout (00:35): MP3
  2. Moral philosophy (00:25): MP3
  3. doon the close (00:31): MP3
  4. Yon Night (00:32): MP3
  5. a summer's day (00:21): MP3
  6. ahma hoarss (01:16): MP3
  7. six oclocknews (00:41): MP3
  8. its aw the fault of the unions (00:35): MP3
  9. humpty dumpty (00:23): MP3
  10. liason co-ordinator (00:47): MP3
  11. 100 Differences between Poetry and Prose (02:03): MP3
  12. An Ayshire Mother (02:47): MP3
  13. Blair's Britain (01:23): MP3
  14. Five translated songs from Mother Courage (12:15): MP3
  15. Being a Human Being (01:09): MP3
  16. The Fair Cop (05:38): MP3
  17. Remembrance Day (01:29): MP3
  18. Epithalamium (02:28): MP3
  19. nora's place (08:00): MP3
  20. June the Second (01:06): MP3
  21. In Hospital (00:41): MP3
  22. Odysseus (00:44): MP3
  23. A humanist (01:19): MP3
  24. A life (01:51): MP3

Unrelated Incidents, recorded at home, 2006




'Unrelated Incidents' No. 3

this is thi
six a clock
news thi
man said n
thi reason
a talk wia
BBC accent
iz coz yi
widny wahnt
mi ti talk
aboot thi
trooth wia
voice lik
wanna yoo
scruff. if
a toktaboot
thi trooth
lik wanna yoo
scruff yi
widny thingk
it wuz troo.
jist wanna yoo
scruff tokn.
thirza right
way ti spell
ana right way
to tok it. this
is me tokn yir
right way a
spellin. this
is ma trooth.
yooz doant no
thi trooth
yirsellz cawz
yi canny talk
right. this is
the six a clock
nyooz. belt up.

Full text on Tom Leonard's Website.

"Jist ti let yi no," a response to Williams

"Jist ti let yi no" (0:32): MP3

Reading at Oran Mor, Glasgow, December 10, 2005

  • Complete recording (17:23): MP3

Soundeye International Poetry Festival: A documentary film by Adam Wyeth and Keith Walsh, 2005

Soundeye International Poetry Festival: A documentary film by Adam Wyeth, edited by Keith Walsh, filmed at the 2005 poetry festival in Cork. Featuring festival directors Trevor Joyce and Matthew Geden and poets Yang Lian, Maurice Scully (55:30), Charles Bernstein (42:50), Mairead Byrne (1:04:00), Nathaniel Mackey (35:00), Sean Bonney (13:30), Catherine Wagner, Tom Leonard (1:08:27), Maurice Scully (55:30), Catherine Wagner (22:35), Randolph Healy (39:45), Hugh Maxton, and Fiona Sampson.

Complete audio (1:32:17): MP3

Readings from Nora's Place and Other Poems 1965-1995, 1997

  1. Six Glasgow Poems (3:24): MP3
  2. The Appetite (0:46): MP3
  3. Four of the Belt (1:28): MP3
  4. Placenta (0:50): MP3
  5. Storm Damage (1:13): MP3
  6. preamble to "A Priest Came on at Merkland Street" (3:38): MP3
  7. A Priest Came on at Merkland Street (7:40): MP3
  8. Honest (9:36): MP3
  9. Nom Sum Qualis Eram Bonae Regno Cynarae (1:20): MP3
  10. an ill wind (0:36): MP3
  11. a summer's day (0:55): MP3
  12. paroakial/ teatime/ jist ti let yi no/ yon night (2:49): MP3
  13. scotsport (1:00): MP3
  14. to be or not to be (1:55): MP3
  15. 14 Glasgow Poems (11:51): MP3
  16. The Performance (3:36): MP3
  17. The Rainbow Of (5:34): MP3
  18. nora's place (6:36): MP3

"A Priest Came on at Merkland Street," recorded for a CD at Big Al's Soundhouse. Easter Farm, Busby, Glasgow, 1996

  • Complete recording (10:54): MP3

"Nora's Place," recorded for Radio Denmark, mid 1990's

  • Complete recording (6:27): MP3

Jackson Mac Low, Bob Cobbing, and Tom Leonard Reading at the Sound & Syntax International Festival of Sound Poetry, 1978

Watch on Media.sas

Shelley's Revolt of Islam (Canto 8 Stanza 2), recorded at Leonard's home in Glasgow, 1978

This recording was one of "Three Texts for Tape," recorded at Leonard's home in Glasgow in 1978 using the poet's Teac A-3340S tape recorder. Special thanks to Archive of the Now for providing this recording.

Complete recording (4:37): MP3

"Three Texts for Tape: The Revolt of Islam" is also featured on PoemTalk Episode 80.

Reading "nor shall death brag," a multitrack tape setting of Shakespeare Sonnet 18, recorded at home, 1970s

Watch on Media.sas
  • Complete recording (4:43): MP3

Reading "kierkegaard either/or," a twin-track tape setting of a passage from Kierkegaard, recorded at home, 1970s

Watch on Media.sas
  • Complete recording (5:27): MP3

These sound recordings are being made available for noncommercial and educational use only. All rights to this recorded material belong to the author. © 2011 Tom Leonard. Used with the permission of Tom Leonard. Distributed by PennSound.