Essential American Poets

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Showing 20 · updated from the feed

Lorine Niedecker: Essential American Poets

Recordings of poet Lorine Niedecker with an introduction to her life and work. Recorded at home in 1970. Recording courtesy of PennSound. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWi

Mar 14 2012
15 min

Gertrude Stein: Essential American Poets

Recordings of poet Gertrude Stein, with an introduction to her life and work. Recorded in 1934. Recording courtesy of PennSound. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz compan

Jan 25 2012
17 min

Charles Simic: Essential American Poets

Recordings of former poet laureate Charles Simic, with an introduction to his life and work. Recorded 2003, Key West, FL. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See

Jan 4 2012
11 min

Alan Dugan: Essential American Poets

Recordings of poet Alan Dugan, with an introduction to his life and work. Recorded in 1962, New York City, New York. Need a transcript of this episode? Request a transcr

Dec 14 2011
11 min

Gary Snyder: Essential American Poets

Recordings of poet Gary Snyder, with an introduction to his life and work. Recorded in 1966, Library of Congress, Washington DC. Need a transcript of this episode? Reque

Nov 30 2011
22 min

Adrienne Rich: Essential American Poets

Recordings of poet Adrienne Rich, with an introduction to her life and work. Recorded in 2002 at the Audio Workshop in London Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company.

Sep 8 2011
6 min

Richard Hugo: Essential American Poets

Recordings of poet Richard Hugo, with an introduction to his life and work. Recorded in 1975, Library of Congress, Washington DC. Need a transcript of this episo

Aug 24 2011
13 min

Robert Pinsky: Essential American Poets

Recordings of former poet laureate Robert Pinsky, with an introduction to his life and work. Recorded in 2007, in studio, Boston, MA. Hosted by Simplecast, an Ad

Aug 10 2011
29 min

Michael Palmer: Essential American Poets

Archival recordings of poet Michael Palmer, with an introduction to his life and work. Recorded in 1995 at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC. Hosted by Simp

Jul 27 2011
10 min

A.R. Ammons: Essential American Poets

Archival recordings of poet A.R. Ammons, with an introduction to his life and work. Recorded in 1963 at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC. Hosted by Simpleca

Jul 13 2011
9 min

Jorie Graham: Essential American Poets

Archival recordings of poet Jorie Graham, with an introduction to her life and work. Recorded in 1995 and 1998 at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC. Hosted by

Jun 29 2011
19 min

Robinson Jeffers: Essential American Poets

Archival recordings of poet Robinson Jeffers, with an introduction to his life and work. Recorded in 1941 at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC. Hosted by Simp

Jun 15 2011
16 min

Carolyn Kizer: Essential American Poets

Archival recordings of poet Carolyn Kizer, with an introduction to her life and work. Recorded in 1958 and 1973 in Seattle, WA, and at the Library of Congress, Washington

Jun 1 2011
24 min

Muriel Rukeyser: Essential American Poets

Archival recordings of poet Muriel Rukeyser, with an introduction to her life and work. Recorded in 1962 at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC. Need a transcript

May 19 2011
32 min

Robert Creeley: Essential American Poets

Archival recordings of the poet Robert Creeley, with an introduction to his life and work. Recorded in 1961, Library of Congress, Washington, DC. Need a transcript of

May 3 2011
12 min

Lucille Clifton: Essential American Poets

Archival recordings of poet Lucille Clifton, with an introduction to her life and work. Recorded 1973 and 1989 at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC. Hosted by Si

Apr 13 2011
10 min

Mona Van Duyn: Essential American Poets

Archival Recordings of former poet laureate poet Mona Van Duyn, with an introduction to her life and work. Recorded in 1966. Need a transcript of this episode? Request a

Mar 30 2011
17 min

Kenneth Rexroth: Essential American Poets

Recordings of poet Kenneth Rexroth, with an introduction to his life and work. Recorded October 25, 1965, Library of Congress, Washington DC. Hosted by Simplecast, an A

Mar 16 2011
16 min

Louis Simpson: Essential American Poets

Recordings of poet Louis Simpson, with an introduction to his life and work. Recorded 1959 and 1966, Library of Congress, Washington DC. Need a transcript of this episod

Mar 2 2011
10 min

Wallace Stevens: Essential American Poets

Archival recordings of the poet Wallace Stevens, with an introduction to his life and work. Recorded in 1954, YMHA Poetry Center, New York, NY. Need a transcript of this

Feb 16 2011
14 min

Chart trend

Position in the Performing Arts chart (US), last 90 days.

#1#100#198JulAugSepOct

#44

all-time peak

days in the top 50 since Nov 2024

Chart positions

Where Essential American Poets ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Oct 13, 2026).

#144 ▲ 54 Performing Arts US

What listeners say

A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.

I listen to these shows like lullabies, like lilting lectures from a friend. I love the narrator’s voice, and the structure of the episodes: short bio of the poet followed by archival recordings of the poet reading their own work. My favorite podcast ever

madam ripstitch · Jul 2018

"Essential American Poets" offers one of the better poetry podcasts available, offering a range of major American poets free of charge. At first the list of poets was too narrow and mostly male, but over the last year the Poetry Foundation has offered a much richer slice of poets former Poet Laureate Donald Hall deemed "essential." Some podcasts are better than others: clearer, longer, with a range of the poet's work. Some are too brief. But you get a very good sampling nevertheless. I wish the Poetry Foundation would leave up all the podcasts, though, becomes some of the initial ones are no longer available. Having only 25 available means that if someone happens upon these podcasts at a certain point, they may miss some of the amazing poets (Lucille Clifton, John Ashbery, etc.) who have already posted. Also, given the foundation's resources it would be great if it would update the poets a bit more. Nevertheless, it's a great resource for lovers of poetry. If you never got to hear the great Adrienne Rich, who recently passed away, read her poetry live, you can hear it here.

Elizabeth_Costello · May 2012

I love poetry so when i saw this podcast i thought,"This i going to be perfect." I purchased the Jean valentine collection and i don't regret it! It was lovely but long. At the beginning the introduce the poet and give a short bio. about his/her life and i found it very interesting. This is great if u love poetry, podcasts, and listening for long amounts of time.

poetry freak · Jan 2009

15 minutes of contemplation and joy with every episode. A pause that refreshes!

Ejawesome22 · May 2022

We strive to present a balanced view by showing a diverse range of reviews from Apple Podcasts.