Previous poetry readings at the Folger

This is the approved revision of this page, as well as being the most recent.

This article lists the poets who read for the O.B. Hardison Poetry Series. Follow linked names for poet biographies, recordings of readings, and further information.

2020's

2010s

2000s

  • Lucie Brock-Broido, 12/14/2009
  • Afaa Michael Weaver, 11/3/2009
  • Juliana Spahr, 10/9/2009
  • Arthur Sze, 11/3/2009
  • Eamon Grennan, 5/18/2009
  • Rita Dove, 5/4/2009
  • A.B. Spellman, 4/6/2009
  • Michael Harper, 4/6/2009
  • Natasha Trethewey, 3/16/2009
  • Claudia Emerson, 3/16/2009
  • Marie Howe, 2/17/2009
  • Bob Hicok, 2/17/2009
  • Linda Pastan, 1/12/2009
  • Tracy K. Smith, 1/12/2009
  • Elizabeth Spires, 12/8/2008
  • Rae Armantrout, 11/10/2008
  • Frank Bidart, 11/10/2008
  • Terrance Hayes, 9/29/2008
  • Edwin Torres, 9/29/2008
  • Nick Flynn, 9/29/2008
  • Eileen Myles, 9/29/2008
  • Mary Kinzie, 9/28/2008
  • Lucille Clifton, 5/13/2008
  • Mark Doty, 4/24/2008
  • Tyehimba Jess, 4/7/2008
  • Quincy Troupe, 4/7/2008
  • Galway Kinnell, 3/24/2008
  • Ross Gay, 2/11/2008
  • Gerald Stern, 2/11/2008
  • Kay Ryan, 1/22/2008
  • Richard Howard, 12/10/2007
  • John Ashbery, 11/5/2007
  • David Wojahn, 10/26/2007
  • Eavan Boland, 5/21/2007
  • Molly Peacock, 4/2/2007
  • Henri Cole, 4/2/2007
  • Phillis Levin, 4/2/2007
  • Derek Walcott, 3/12/2007
  • Terrance Hayes, 2/12/2007
  • Frank X. Walker, 2/12/2007
  • Srikanth Reddy, 1/29/2007
  • Tina Chang, 1/29/2007
  • Victoria Chang, 1/29/2007
  • Carolyn Forché, 12/11/2006
  • Tess Gallagher, 11/20/2006
  • David Rivard, 10/27/2007
  • Charles Simic, 5/1/2006
  • Ted Kooser, 4/25/2006
  • Virgil Suarez, 3/13/2006
  • Adrian Castro, 3/13/2006
  • Sonia Sanchez, 2/13/2006
  • Eve Grubin, 1/24/2006
  • Kazim Ali, 1/24/2006
  • Katie Ford, 1/24/2006
  • Jorie Graham, 1/24/2006
  • Rosmarie Waldrop, 12/17/2005
  • Mark Halliday, 11/7/2005
  • Campbell McGrath, 11/7/2005
  • Sharon Olds, 10/25/2005
  • Elizabeth Alexander, 10/25/2005
  • Tony Hoagland, 9/23/2005
  • Anne Waldman, 5/16/2005
  • Philip Levine, 5/2/2005
  • Taha Muhammad Ali, 3/1/2005
  • Edward Hirsch, 3/1/2005
  • C. K. Williams, 2/14/2005
  • Peter Gizzi, 1/25/2005
  • Eileen Myles, 1/25/2005
  • Harryette Mullen, 12/6/2004
  • Jimmy Santiago Baca, 11/22/2004
  • Diane Middlebrook, 11/3/2004
  • Reginald Gibbons, 10/22/2004
  • Thomas Sayers Ellis, 9/21/2004
  • Vijay Seshadri, 9/21/2004
  • Fanny Howe, 9/21/2004
  • Percival Everett, 9/21/2004
  • Stanley Plumly, 5/3/2004
  • Brad Gooch, 4/16/2004
  • Diane Ackerman, 4/1/2004
  • Eamon Grennan, 3/1/2004
  • Vona Groarke, 3/1/2004
  • David McCann, 2/2/2004
  • Ko Un, 2/2/2004
  • Katia Kapovich, 1/13/2004
  • Rachel Blau Duplessis, 1/13/2004
  • Linda Gregson, 1/13/2004
  • Jean Valentine, 12/8/2003
  • Tribute to Henry Taylor, 9/23/2003
  • Cornelius Eady,10/24/2003
  • Pattiann Rodgers, 5/15/2003
  • Robert Bly, 4/14/2003
  • George Schneeman, 3/15/2003
  • Ron Padgett, 3/15/2003
  • Steve Clay, 3/15/2003
  • Paul Muldoon, 2/24/2003
  • Dissenting Practices, 2/20/2003
  • Linda Gregerson, 1/13/2003
  • Li-Young Lee, 12/9/2002
  • Naomi Shihab Nye, 11/13/2002
  • Nathalie Handal, 11/13/2002
  • Elmaz Abinader, 11/13/2002
  • Ellen Bryant Voigt, 10/21/2002
  • A. Van Jordan, 9/23/2002
  • Honoree Fanonne Jeffers, 9/23/2002
  • Shara McCallum, 9/23/2002
  • W.D. Snodgrass, 5/13/2002
  • Natasha Trethewey, 4/29/2002
  • Dolores Kendrick, 4/29/2002
  • Celebration of the Sonnet, 4/2/2002
  • Alice Notley, 3/18/2002
  • Yeats' Gallery, 2/25/2002
  • Kenneth Koch, 1/14/2002
  • Susan Howe, 12/11/2001
  • Clarence Major, 11/26/2001
  • Bruce Smith, 11/26/2001
  • David St. John, 10/29/2001
  • Galway Kinnell, 5/4/2001
  • Billy Collins, 4/10/2001
  • Carol Ann Duffy, 4/10/2001
  • Les Murray, 3/26/2001
  • Lucille Clifton, 2/26/2001
  • Marie Howe, 1/29/2001
  • Elizabeth Alexander, 1/29/2001
  • Joy Harjo, 12/11/2000
  • Afaa Michael Weaver, 11/20/2000
  • Ahmos Zu-Bolton, 11/20/2000
  • Rachel Hadas, 10/23/2000
  • Louise Gluck, 5/2/2000
  • Sandra Cisneros, 4/7/2000
  • Lawrence Ferlinghetti, 3/13/2000
  • Arthur Sze, 2/28/2000
  • Vijay Seshadri, 2/28/2000
  • Toi Derricotte, 1/24/2000
  • Thomas Lux, 1/24/2000

1990s

  • Elizabeth Spires, 12/6/1999
  • Tracie Morris, 11/8/1999
  • Yusef Komunyakaa, 11/8/1999
  • Alan Shapiro, 10/19/1999
  • Lannon Fellows, 10/4/1999
  • Amy Hempel, 5/4/1999
  • Steve Stern, 5/4/1999
  • Cornelius Eady, 5/4/1999
  • Carolyn Forché, 5/4/1999
  • YMCA National Writer's Voice, 5/4/1999
  • Stanley Kunitz, 4/16/1999
  • Melanie Rae Thon, 4/8/1999
  • Michael Martone, 4/8/1999
  • Tom Sleigh, 3/23/1999
  • Sandra Gilbert, 3/23/1999
  • Donald Justice, 3/2/1999
  • Brenda Marie Osbey, 2/16/1999
  • C.D. Wright, 2/4/1999
  • Mark McMorris, 2/4/1999
  • Eavan Boland, 1/26/1999
  • Jane Mead, 1/26/1999
  • Mary Oliver, 12/8/1998
  • Maggie Nelson, 12/3/1998
  • Jennifer Barber, 12/3/1998
  • Mark Bibbins, 12/3/1998
  • Lawson Fusao Inada, 11/10/1998
  • Jennifer Nelson, 11/10/1998
  • Heather McHugh, 10/20/1998
  • W.S. Merwin, 10/6/1998
  • Michael Palmer, 10/1/1998
  • Peter Brook, 9/9/1998
  • Gary Snyder, 5/8/1998
  • Robert Pinsky, 4/17/1998
  • Ann Lauterbach, 4/16/1998
  • Stanley Plumly, 3/19/1998
  • Lucille Clifton, 3/19/1998
  • Robert Creeley, 3/19/1998
  • Denise Levertov, 3/19/1998
  • Dava Sobel, 3/11/1998
  • Richard Wilbur, 2/26/1998
  • James Tate, 2/24/1998
  • Brenda Hillman, 2/24/1998
  • DJ Renegade, 2/16/1998
  • Reuben Jackson, 1/27/1998
  • Al Young, 1/27/1998
  • Mary Karr, 12/7/1997
  • Reetika Vazarani, 11/18/1997
  • Zoe Anglesey, 11/18/1997
  • Charles Wright, 11/13/1997
  • Jay Parini, 11/13/1997
  • Frank Bidart, 10/21/1997
  • Leslie Scalapino, 10/16/1997
  • Mark Rudman, 10/16/1997
  • Rafael Campo, 9/18/1997
  • Marilyn Hacker, 9/18/1997
  • George Plimpton, 6/12/1997
  • Christopher Buckley, 6/12/1997
  • Nuala Ni Dhomhniall, 5/6/1997
  • Eilean Ni Chuilleanan, 5/6/1997
  • Gwendolyn Brooks, 4/4/1997
  • Kamau Brathwaite, 3/25/1997
  • Lannon Fellows, 2/24/1997
  • John Ashbery, 2/4/1997
  • Anne Carson, 2/4/1997
  • Michael Ondaatje, 1/14/1997
  • Anthony Hecht, 12/10/1996
  • Patricia Smith, 11/19/1996
  • Jesus Papoleto Melendez, 11/12/1996
  • Pedro Pietri, 11/12/1996
  • Jesus Melindez, 11/12/1996
  • Jorie Graham, 10/29/1996
  • Bei Dao, 5/7/1996
  • Derek Walcott, 4/26/1996
  • Anne Carson, 2/27/1996
  • Christopher Merrill, 2/27/1996
  • Henri Cole, 2/22/1996
  • Lucie Brock-Broido, 2/17/1996
  • Jay Wright, 1/23/1996
  • Peter Sacks, 12/12/1995
  • Patricia Smith, 11/14/1995
  • Paul Beatty, 11/14/1995
  • Laurie Anderson, 10/31/1995
  • E. Ethelbert Miller, 10/24/1995
  • Adrienne Rich, 10/10/1995
  • Octavio Paz, 5/25/1995
  • Sharon Olds, 5/12/1995
  • W. S. Merwin, 4/20/1995
  • Paul Muldoon, 3/7/1995
  • Rosanna Warren, 3/7/1995
  • Robert Creeley, 2/14/1995
  • Linda Pastan, 2/14/1995
  • Cyrus Cassells, 1/25/1995
  • Carolyn Forché, 1/24/1995
  • Hayden Carruth, 1994
  • Jorie Graham, 12/13/1994
  • Jane Miller, 11/17/1994
  • Mark Doty, 11/17/1994
  • Spalding Gray, 11/16/1994
  • Cornelius Eady, 11/15/1994
  • R.H.W. Dillard, 10/25/1994
  • Lucille Clifton< 5/17/1994
  • Rose Styron, 5/5/1994
  • George Plimpton, 5/5/1994
  • Robert Hass, 4/8/1994
  • Czeslaw Milosz, 4/8/1994
  • Olga Broumas, 3/29/1994
  • Killarney Clary, 3/3/1994
  • Agha Shahid Ali, 3/3/1994
  • Sheryl St. Germain, 2/22/1994
  • Galway Kinnell, 2/8/1994
  • Peter Reading, 1/25/1994
  • Rita Dove, 1/20/1994
  • Frank Bidart, 12/9/1993
  • Kenneth Carroll, 11/16/1993
  • Wanda Coleman, 11/16/1993
  • John Frederick Nims, 10/21/1993
  • Denise Levertov, 9/21/1993
  • Adrienne Rich, 5/4/1993
  • Octavio Paz, 4/15/1993
  • Alice Quinn, 3/2/1993
  • Charles Simic, 3/2/1993
  • Louise Gluck, 3/2/1993
  • Beth Joselow, 2/9/1993
  • E. Ethelbert Miller, 2/9/1993
  • William Matthews, 1/21/1993
  • Maxine Kumin, 12/8/1992
  • Martin Espada, 11/17/1992
  • Robert Creeley, 11/17/1992
  • Marilyn Waniek (aka Marilyn Nelson), 11/17/1992
  • Cynthia Macdonald, 10/22/1992
  • John Updike, 4/6/1992
  • Fred Chappell, 3/30/1992
  • Richard Tillinghast, 3/30/1992
  • Olga Broumas, 3/8/1992
  • Carolyn Forché, 3/2/1992
  • Jane Kenyon, 2/3/1992
  • Jean Nordhaus, 2/3/1992
  • Anne Becker, 1/13/1992
  • Ai, 1/13/1992
  • Mona Van Duyn, 1991
  • Julie Agoos, 1991
  • Charles Wright, 12/9/1991
  • Gibbons Ruark, 11/25/1991
  • Eamon Grennan, 11/25/1991
  • Les Murray, 11/12/1991
  • Brendan Galvin, 10/28/1991
  • Miroslav Holub, 10/15/1991
  • Belle Waring, 5/13/1991
  • Donald Justice, 4/15/1991
  • Seamus Heaney, 4/7/1991
  • Li-Young Lee, 3/11/1991
  • David Ignatow, 3/11/1991
  • Ntozake Shange, 2/19/1991
  • Jessica Hagedorn, 2/19/1991
  • Gregory Orr, 1/28/1991
  • Edward Kleinschmidt, 1/28/1991
  • Linda Pastan, 1/14/1991
  • Jean Valentine, 12/10/1990
  • Thomas Lux, 11/19/1990
  • Jorie Graham, 11/19/1990
  • Toi Derricotte, 11/19/1990
  • Anthony Hecht, 10/26/1990
  • Dave Smith, 10/22/1990
  • Roland Flint, 10/22/1990
  • Sonia Sanchez, 9/17/1990
  • Molly Peacock, 6/30/1990
  • Minnie Bruce Pratt, 6/30/1990
  • Adam Zagajewski, 4/2/1990
  • Bernice Reagon, 3/2/1990
  • June Jordan, 3/2/1990
  • Jane Shore, 2/5/1990
  • Carol Muske, 2/5/1990
  • Bruce Weigl, 1/22/1990
  • John Balaban, 1/22/1990

1980s

  • Josephine Jacobsen, 12/12/1989
  • Jean Valentine, 12/12/1989
  • Saul Bellow, 12/1/1989
  • Henry Taylor, 11/13/1989
  • Michael Collier, 11/13/1989
  • Peter Sacks, 4/12/1989
  • Yehuda Amichai, 3/15/1989
  • Philip Levine, 2/27/1989
  • Thomas McGrath, 1/31/1989
  • Reed Whittemore, 1/19/1989
  • Roland Flint, 1/19/1989
  • Eilean Ni Chuilleanan, 1/18/1989
  • Marilyn Hacker, 12/14/1988
  • Marge Piercy, 10/24/1988
  • Octavio Paz, 10/18/1988
  • Yehuda Amichai, 9/29/1988
  • Octavio Paz, 9/29/1988
  • Derek Walcott, 9/29/1988
  • Les Murray, 9/29/1988
  • Peter Sacks, 9/29/1988
  • Jeffery Harrison, 5/6/1988
  • Irina Ratushinskay, 4/4/1988
  • Linda Pastan, 3/29/1988
  • Myra Sklarew, 3/29/1988
  • John Ashbery, 2/19/1988
  • Patricia Willis, 1/15/1988
  • June Jordan, 11/18/1987
  • Anthony Hecht, 10/22/1987
  • Stanley Kunitz, 5/12/1987
  • Galway Kinnell, 4/9/1987
  • Katha Pollitt, 3/9/1987
  • Laura Jensen, 3/9/1987
  • Stanley Plumly, 2/10/1987
  • C. K. Williams, 2/10/1987
  • Cynthia Macdonald, 12/12/1986
  • Katherine Zadravec, 12/11/1986
  • Frank Dorn, 12/11/1986
  • James Merrill, 11/18/1986
  • Diane Burns, 10/30/1986
  • Gregory Tate, 10/30/1986
  • Joseph Brodsky, 10/21/1986
  • Michael Harper, 4/22/1986
  • Rita Dove, 4/22/1986
  • Tomas Transtromer, 4/1/1986
  • William Pritchard, 3/3/1986
  • Nicholas Christopher, 2/18/1986
  • Jeffery Harrison, 2/18/1986
  • Robert Hass, 2/18/1986
  • Anthony Hecht, 1/13/1986
  • Amy Clampitt, 1/12/1986
  • Jorie Graham, 11/19/1985
  • Lucille Clifton, 11/19/1985
  • W.D. Snodgrass, 10/15/1985
  • Donald Hall, 10/15/1985
  • Seamus Heaney, 5/3/1985
  • Denis Johnson, 4/2/1985
  • Elizabeth Spires, 4/2/1985
  • Edward Hirsch, 3/4/1985
  • Gjertrud Schnackenberg, 3/4/1985
  • Mary Oliver, 2/4/1985
  • Sharon Olds, 12/10/1984
  • Sandra Esteves, 10/30/1984
  • Rikki Lights, 10/30/1984
  • Robert Pinsky, 10/24/1984
  • Alison Lurie, 10/12/1984
  • Shelby Hearon, 10/12/1984
  • May Swenson, 10/2/1984
  • Reed Whittemore, 5/9/1984
  • Jordan Smith, 5/8/1984
  • Douglas Crase, 5/8/1984
  • Charles Simic, 4/2/1984
  • Ellen Bryant Voigt, 4/2/1984
  • Sonia Sanchez, 2/6/1984
  • Jean Valentine, 12/12/1983
  • Josephine Jacobsen, 12/9/1983
  • Roland Flint, 12/6/1983
  • W.S. Merwin, 11/16/1983
  • James Dickey, 10/30/1983
  • Garth Tate, 10/4/1983
  • Kimiko Hahn, 10/4/1983
  • Ivan Lalic, 9/7/1983
  • Denise Levertov, 5/9/1983
  • Jean Valentine, 4/18/1983
  • Ursula LeGuin, 3/21/1983
  • Samuel Hazo, 12/3/1982
  • Frederick Morgan, 10/18/1982
  • Myra Sklarew, 9/20/1982
  • Veno Taufer, 5/17/1982
  • Jerome Rothenberg, 5/11/1982
  • Richard Wilbur, 4/22/1982
  • Sterling Brown, 3/9/1982
  • Tess Gallagher, 2/1/1982
  • Steve Orlen, 1/4/1982
  • Susan Wood, 1/4/1982
  • Carole Oles, 12/7/1981
  • Jane Flanders, 12/7/1981
  • Pamela Stewart, 11/17/1981
  • Carolyn Forché, 11/17/1981
  • Fay Chiang, 10/6/1981
  • Peter Harris, 10/6/1981
  • Howard Nemerov, 9/21/1981
  • Eilean Ni Chuilleanan, 9/21/1981
  • Charles Simic, 5/2/1981
  • Carolyn Kizer, 4/30-5/2/1981
  • Josephine Miles, 4/13/1981
  • Albert Goldbarth, 3/31/1981
  • Dick Higgins, 3/2/1981
  • Frank Bidart, 2/10/1981
  • Louise Gluck, 1/5/1981
  • Thomas Lux, 12/1/1980
  • Robert Bly, 10/20/1980
  • David Antin, 6/2/1980
  • Ira Sadoff, 3/4/1980
  • Mark Strand, 2/25/1980
  • David McAleavey, 2/7/1980
  • Charles Wright, 2/5/1980
  • Audre Lorde, 1/21/1980
  • Olga Broumas, 1/11/1980

1970s

  • David St. John, 12/4/1979
  • Heather McHugh, 11/19/1979
  • W.S. Merwin, 11/16/1979
  • Leslie Ullman, 5/29/1979
  • John Ashbery, 3/12/1979
  • James Wright, 3/8/1979
  • James Liddy, 2/6/1979
  • William Claire, 1/8/1979
  • Gerald Stern, 12/11/1978
  • Erica Jong, 12/7/1978
  • Theodore Weiss, 11/6/1978
  • Marvin Bell, 10/17/1978
  • E. Ethelbert Miller, 10/9/1978
  • June Jordan, 10/9/1978
  • Murial Ruckheyser, 9/25/1978
  • John Pauker, 6/5/1978
  • Philip Levine, 5/30/1978
  • Lawrence Ferlinghetti, 4/3/1978
  • Linda Pastan, 2/7/1978
  • Linda Sexton, 1/23/1978
  • Howard Moss, 1/9/1978
  • Alice Walker, 12/6/1977
  • Frederick Morgan, 12/6/1977
  • Ruth Whitman, 11/21/1977
  • Myra Sklarew, 11/10/1977
  • Maura Stanton, 5/2/1977
  • Daniel Berrigan, S.J., 4/4/1977
  • Charles David Wright, 3/31/1977
  • Jean Nordhaus, 3/24/1977
  • Allen Ginsberg, 3/7/1977
  • Mary Abbott, 2/7/1977
  • Barbara Guest, 2/7/1977
  • Robert Hayden, 1/21/1977
  • Reed Whittemore, 1/21/1977
  • James Dickey, 1/19/1977
  • Richard Eberhart, 1/18/1977
  • Josephine Jacobsen, 1/17/1977
  • May Miller, 1/17/1977
  • John Engels, 1/3/1977
  • Henry Taylor, 1/3/1977
  • William Meredith, 12/6/1976
  • Maxine Kumin, 12/6/1976
  • James Merrill, 11/8/1976
  • Marge Piercy, 10/18/1976
  • Ralph Robin, 5/24/1976
  • Rod Jellema, 5/24/1976
  • Roland Flint, 5/24/1976
  • Darcy Gottlieb, 4/8/1976
  • X.J. Kennedy, 4/5/1976
  • James Wright, 3/8/1976
  • Jodi Braxton, 2/2/1976
  • Grace Cavalieri, 2/2/1976
  • Ahmos Zu-Bolton, 2/2/1976
  • Clarence Major, 1/5/1976
  • Doris Grumbach, 1/5/1976
  • John Gardner, 12/1/1975
  • Josephine Jacobsen, 11/10/1975
  • Marilyn Hacker, 10/13/1975
  • Reed Whittemore, 9/25/1975
  • Katie Loucheim, 3/24/1975
  • Arthur Gregor, 3/10/1975
  • Charles David Wright, 3/10/1975
  • Wayne Alexander, 2/24/1975
  • Michael Lally, 2/24/1975
  • David Slavitt, 2/17/1975
  • Mona Van Duyn, 1/20/1975
  • R.H.W. Dillard, 1/6/1975
  • O.B. Hardison, 5/28/1974
  • Ann Stanford, 4/1974
  • James Dickey, 3/18/1974
  • Shirley Kaufman, 2/1/1974
  • Muriel Ruckheyser, 1/21/1974
  • Michael Harper, 4/2/1973
  • Peter Klappert, 3/12/1973
  • John Hawkes, 1/22/1973
  • Marin Sorescu, 5/17/1972
  • Samuel Hazo, 3/26/1972
  • Myra Sklarew, 3/26/1972
  • Keith Wilson, 3/14/1972
  • Holly Stevens, 2/27/1972
  • Frank Scott, 1/30/1972
  • Margaret Atwood, 1/30/1972
  • Richard Murphy, 3/17/1971
  • St. John Primus, 2/21/1971
  • William Stafford, 1/17/1971
  • George Garrett, 3/1/1970
  • Roger Hecht, 2/12/1970
  • John Pauker, 2/12/1970
  • Lucille Clifton, 2/8/1970