Harryette Mullen

photo ©Emma Bee Bernstein, 2007

PoemTalk #172, Trance of language: Discussing Harryette Mullen's 'Sleeping with the Dictionary' and 'Dim Lady' with Al Filreis feat. Julia Bloch, Maxe Crandall and Larissa Lai

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

WHAT I SAY Anthology Reading at AWP, Los Angeles, CA, March 31, 2016

• Harryette Mullen segment (2:33): MP3
• Complete reading (1:54:16): MP3

In conversation with Barbara Henning, Belladonna* Reading Series, Poets House, New York, April 29, 2011



Photograph © Barbara Henning

• Complete recording (1:30:23): MP3

TILTS reading at "Poets and Scholars," Fall Symposium, The University of Texas at Austin, September 14, 2011

1. Denigration (1:32): MP3
2. We Are Not Responsible (1:51): MP3
3. Bilingual Instructions (1:16): MP3
4. Sleeping with the Dictionary (2:10): MP3
5. Exploring the Dark Content (1:00): MP3
• Complete recording (36:11): YouTube

In conversation with Erica Hunt for Pen America, NYC, November 15, 2007

1. Introduction (2:21): MP3
2. Reading from Trimmings (3:11): MP3
3. Reading from S*PeRM**K*T (2:24): MP3
4. On early writing life (4:34): MP3
5. On riddles (1:04): MP3
6. On feminist subtext (5:12): MP3
7. On target audience (5:12): MP3
8. On collaboration in art (7:06): MP3
9. On living in the margins (3:08): MP3
10. On the difficulty of poetry (7:56): MP3
11. Playing a guessing game (8:05): MP3
• Complete Recording (50:25) MP3

Appearing on Cross Cultural Poetics, Episode #92, "Sleeping with the Dictionary," with host Leonard Schwartz, 2005

• Harryette Mullen reads from and discusses her book Sleeping with The Dictionary (University of California Press)
1. On "Sleeping with the Dictionary" (4:32): MP3
2. On language and power (2:40): MP3
3. All She Wrote (2:11): MP3
4. On prose poems (2:09): MP3
5. European Folktale Variant (2:46): MP3
6. On Tone Cade Bambara (2:17): MP3
7. Sleeping with the Dictionary (poem) (2:05): MP3
8. On dictionaries (2:58): MP3
9. On Oulipo (2:19): MP3
10. On Newlipo conference (3:25): MP3
11. On "Jingle Jangle" (3:27): MP3
12. Jingle Jangle (11:33): MP3
13. On lists (3:49): MP3
14. On normative English (2:20): MP3
15. Dim Lady (1:17): MP3, TEXT
16. On detritus (5:02): MP3
17. On new work (4:32): MP3
• Complete recording (59:23): MP3

Reading at the Bowery Poetry Club, Segue, NY, April 3, 2004

• Complete recording (33:43): MP3

Reading at Kelly Writers House, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April 26, 2001

• A fish caught (:40): MP3
• A light white disgraceful sugar (:31): MP3
• All She Wrote (1:27): MP3
• Bleeding Heart (1:07): MP3
• Coals to Newcastle, Panama Hats from Ecuador (1:12): MP3
• Daisy Pearl (:48): MP3
• Euridice (:44): MP3
• Gaudy colors you flaunt (:34): MP3
• Girt, a good old girl got hipped (:20): MP3
• Go on sister sing your song (:52): MP3
• Marry at a Hotel (:30): MP3
• Massa had a yeller (:26): MP3
• Mutter patter simper blubber (:27): MP3
• Of a girl in white (:31): MP3
• Oh rose so drowsy (:25): MP3
• Quality of Life (2:10): MP3
• Releases from valises (:27): MP3
• She Swam on from Sea to Shine (7:55): MP3
• Souvenir from Anywhere (:54): MP3
• Step into gathered floral (:26): MP3
• That her body bleeds (:28): MP3
• Thinking though to be a body (:15): MP3
• Tomboy girl with cowboy boots (:33): MP3
• Transience (5:11): MP3
• Variation on a Theme Park (1:07): MP3
• We believed her (:37): MP3
• What a little moonlight (:29): MP3

Expanding the Repertoire Reading, San Francisco, California April 8, 2000

• Complete recording (9:42): MP3

Reading from Muse and Drudge, Buffalo Poetics Program, April 8,1998

• Complete recording (41:55): MP3

Harryette Mullen and Douglas Ewart, Alternating Currents Live, Woodland Pattern Book Center, March 15, 1998

1. Opens Flute (03:28): MP3
2. Opens Voice Then Flute (06:34): MP3
3. Microphone Cuts Out At End (06:52): MP3
4. Poem Continues, Microphone Problem (00:57): MP3
5. Poem, Then Saxophone Enters (02:47): MP3
6. Voice Cuts Out (01:24): MP3
7. Opens Flute Solo With Poem (13:29): MP3
8. Didjeridoo With Nidko Xaba (07:26): MP3
9. Mussette With Ndiko Xaba (06:14): MP3
10. Close of Track (01:06): MP3
11. Tenor Solo With Text by Douglas (08:27): MP3
12. Short Poem With Tenor Solo (02:07): MP3

Segue Series Reading at the Ear Inn, New York, February 3, 1996

• Complete Reading (27:52): MP3

  Reading and QA, University of San Diego, c.1995

  • Complete Recording, (59:15)MP3
  • Recording courtesy of Michael Davison

  Reading at Cornell University, 1992

  1. Bad Girls (5:33): MP3
  2. from Trimmings (14:56): MP3

  Complete recording (20:27): MP3

  Selections from Trimmings: pages 3–5, 7, 11, 13–14, 17–18, 23, 25, 27–32, 34–36, 38, 40–41, 43–44, 46–52, and 59–62 in the 2006 Recyclopedia edition.

  Segue Series Reading at the Ear Inn, New York, May 30, 1992

• Complete Reading (9:09): MP3

Reading at Paul Butler Arts Center, Ogden, Utah, May 10, 1992

• S*PeRM**K*T (15:03): MP3
• Complete recording (1:19:18): MP3

Reading Trimmings at Cornell University, 1991

Complete recording (22:24): MP3

Mullen reads Trimmings, omitting pages 19, 37, 42, 53, and 56 in the 2006 Recyclopedia edition.

• Talk by Harryette Mullen (20:51): MP3
• Talk by Ann Lauterbach (11:46): MP3
• Talk by Robert Creeley (27:54): MP3
• Talk by Charles North (29:42): MP3
• Complete program (1:18:31): MP3

Reading at the Ear Inn, February 23, 1991

1. Introduction (1:09): MP3
2. A Generic Fairy Tale (1:27): MP3
3. Sugar Sandwiches (7:29): MP3
4. from Trimmings (15:56): MP3

Complete recording (26:07): MP3

Selections from Trimmings: pages 3–18, 22–23, 25, 27–33, 35–36, 38, 40–41, 43–45, 47–50, 60–62 in the 2006 Recyclopedia edition.

Appearing on Morton Marcus's "The Poetry Show," KUSP, March 18, 1987

Reading and discussion a selection from Trimmings.

Complete recording (57:07): MP3

1. Introduction: Readings from "Trimmings" (4:24): MP3
2. Belt (0:34): MP3
3. Gloves (0:43): MP3
4. Q&A: Inspiration for "Trimmings" (2:55): MP3
5. Purse (0:26): MP3
6. Shoes (1:37): MP3
7. Hat (0:14): MP3
8. Pantyhose (followed by Q&A) (0:55): MP3
9. Purse (Relistening) (0:30): MP3
10. Shoes (Relistening) (0:41): MP3
11. Miss Panty Hoes (1:15): MP3
12. Pink (followed by Q&A) (1:09): MP3
13. Body Stalking (followed by Q&A) (6:12): MP3
14. A Petticoat (4:08): MP3
15. Teddy (1:26): MP3
16. Shamisen (0:57): MP3
17. Slip (1:40): MP3
18. Q&A: What is Beauty? (1:24): MP3
19. Tiny (0:40): MP3
20. Skirts (0:32): MP3
21. Q&A: Creation Process (5:39): MP3
22. Trousers (0:55): MP3
23. A Dress (1:34): MP3
24. Red Dress (1:02): MP3
25. Bengals (1:17): MP3
26. Black Lace (0:51): MP3
27. Fish Stockings (0:48): MP3
28. Conclusion (1:02): MP3



Also on PennSound:

• Les Figues Press: Explanation as Composition

  The following recordings document a social writing event that took place at LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions) on January 30, 2011. The audio tours opened on March 3, 2011 and ran, as a gallery piece, through April 17, 2011.

  The recordings were curated by five writer/collaborators: Harold Abramowitz, Amand Ackerman, Teresa Carmody, Kate Durbin and Sarah Shun-lien Bynum. Additional writers include: Aimee Bender, Allison Carter, Mark Z. Danielewski, Carribean Fragoza, Veronica Gonzalez, Janice Lee, Harryette Mullen, Janet Sarbenas, Anna Joy Springer, and Stephen Van Dyck.

  • 1. Introduction (3:01): MP3
  • 2. Story (14:41): MP3
  • 3. Geography (15:41): MP3
  • 4. Ekphrasis: (16:49): MP3
  • 5. Provenance (14:40): MP3
  • 6. Nature (8:36): MP3
  • 7. Confession (12:48): MP3

• From Six Poets Each Teach One Short Poem to High-School Students:

• Jessica Lowenthal teaches "Trimmings" by Harryette Mullen, May 13, 2010 [ PDF ]

  Complete recording (18:65): MP3

• Randall Couch teaches "Zombie Hat" by Harryette Mullen, May 12, 2009 [ PDF ]

  Complete recording (16:37): MP3, QuickTime

• Expanding the Repertoire: Continuity and Change in African-American Writing, April 2000

  (Conference at which Harryette Mullen was a participating writer)

These recordings are being made available for noncommercial and educational use only. All rights to this recorded material belong to the author. © 2020 Harryette Mullen. Distributed by PennSound.