Poets Read their Contemporary Poetry: Before Columbus Foundation

Founded in 1976, the Before Columbus Foundation was formed as a nonprofit educational and service organization dedicated to the promotion and dissemination of contemporary American multicultural literature. The Foundation employed the term “multicultural” not as a description of an aspect of American literature, but as a definition of all American literature. In this recording from the Oakland Museum, the Foundation presents a live reading by 14 poets lead by Foundation board member Ishmael Reed and noted writer and poet Amiri Baraka.

Track Listing

101	Intro	Ishmael Reed	04:49
102	A Bard's Prayer / Poetry	Bob Callahan	02:51
103	For the Poets	Jayne Cortez	04:53
104	Poem for Fanny / Yang-chu Said	Maureen Owen	02:09
105	I Am a Dangerous Woman / Crossing the Border into Canada	Joy Harjo	03:16
106	Boringuen	Alurista	02:45
107	Housewife	Susan Zavarin	01:48
108	Bark Is What Us Dogs Do... / On a Leash / From a Midrash	David Meltzer	03:47
109	Artist / Art This / Anonymous Sonnet	Victor Hernandez Cruz	04:19
201	Rabbit, Hair, Leaf	Mei Mei Bersenbrugge	03:51
202	Flipochinos / Being Your Woman / Pacific Lover	Cyn Zarco	03:06
203	St Louis Woman	Ishmael Reed	07:40
204	Part 3 from Wolfbane	David Henderson	03:27
205	Dope	Amiri Baraka	05:35
206	New York Weather Report / Dedicated to William Melvin Kelly / Sound Poem	David Jackson	04:05