Poets & Writers Theater

“This table has been a house in the rain, an umbrella in the sun.” In this video that originally aired in 2012, poet Joy Harjo reads her poem “Perhaps the World Ends Here,” which appears in her collection The Woman Who Fell From the Sky (Norton, 1994), for PBS NewsHour.

In this 60 Minutes interview, Margaret Atwood speaks about her response to book banning, her new memoir, Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts (Doubleday, 2025), and why she says the popularity of her novel The Handmaid’s Tale is “not due to me or the excellence of the book. It’s partly the twists and turns of history.”

In this event hosted by City Lights Bookstore, Harryette Mullen reads from her latest poetry collection, Regaining Consciousness (Graywolf Press, 2025), and talks about how her poetics remain playful even in the face of disaster in a conversation with Tonya M. Foster.

In this virtual reading and celebration, Poets & Writers Magazine features editor India Lena González introduces the 2025 cohort of “5 Over 50” debut authors: Princess Joy L. Perry, author of This Here Is Love (Norton, 2025); Vishwas R. Gaitonde, author of On Earth as It Is in Heaven (Orison Books, 2025); Yael Valencia Aldana, author of Black Mestiza (University Press of Kentucky, 2025); Lauren K. Watel, author of Book of Potions (Sarabande Books, 2025); and Jennifer Eli Bowen, author of The Book of Kin: On Absence, Love, and Being There (Milkweed Editions, 2025).

In this episode of the Fashion Neurosis podcast hosted by Bella Freud, Ocean Vuong speaks about how the Japanese concept of negative space, ma, influences his approach to the line in both prose and poetry, and why he wants to write eight books in total by the end of his career.

In this event hosted by the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, poet and biologist Brandon Kilbourne talks about the relationship between scientific inquiry and poetics which manifests in his debut poetry collection, Natural History (Graywolf Press, 2025), and reads a selection of poems. Kilbourne’s collection is featured in Page One in the November/December issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“I was little and lost / the season I learned to be still...” In this Charis Circle event, Donika Kelly reads poems from her new collection, The Natural Order of Things (Graywolf Press, 2025), and speaks with Jericho Brown about family, home, and her writing process. Read a profile of Kelly by Brian Gresko in the November/December issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

In this 2023 Harvard Radcliffe Institute event, Gabrielle Calvocoressi reads from their collection The New Economy (Copper Canyon Press, 2025) and discusses the relationship between the vessel of the body and the vessel of the poem in a conversation with Claudia Rizzini. The New Economy is featured in Page One in the November/December issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“So much has happened / that I would never have known / I could remember.” In this Silo City Reading Series video, Donika Kelly reads her poem “Suicide Watch: Spring,” which appears in her third poetry collection, The Natural Order of Things (Graywolf Press, 2025). Read a profile of Kelly by Brian Gresko in the November/December issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

In this Poets & Writers event, 2025 Jackson Poetry Prize winner Cyrus Cassells reads a selection of poems from his first book, The Mud Actor (Henry Holt, 1982), and his most recent book, Everything in Life Is Resurrection: Selected Poems, 1982–2022 (TCU Press, 2025), and joins Pádraig Ó Tuama for a conversation about his evolution as a poet.

In this video from the Sage-sponsored “Banned Books From the Big Chair” booth at the American Library Association’s 2025 annual conference, authors and attendees respond to the dangers of book banning and the importance of supporting public libraries and the freedom to read.

In this Alaska Quarterly Review virtual event, poet and naturalist Elizabeth Bradfield reads from her collection SOFAR (Persea Books, 2025) and discusses the relationship of her poetics to ocean ecologies, memories of queer love, and both human and natural histories.

In this video, George Takei, honorary chair of Banned Books Week 2025, talks about how “access to books and knowledge is essential to democracy” and how reading provides a way to see ourselves reflected in stories and to discover the stories of others. To learn more, visit the Banned Books Week website.

In this Poets House event, four poets read from their new books: Kimberly Alidio, author of Traceable Relation (Fonograf Editions, 2025); Courtney Bush, author of A Movie (Lavender Ink, 2025); Natalie Shapero, author of Stay Dead (Copper Canyon Press, 2025); and Emily Skillings, author of Tantrums in Air (The Song Cave, 2025).

In this World Poetry Salon event hosted by the New York Public Library and Limelight Poetry, Colm Tóibín reads from his collection Vinegar Hill (Beacon Press, 2022) while accompanied by musician Martin Hayes and joins Leonard Schwartz in a conversation about Ireland’s history and sense of place.

In this 2021 Under the Volcano video, Cyrus Cassells reads a poem about Federico García Lorca that he began writing in Tepoztlán, Mexico. Cassells is the recipient of the 2025 Jackson Poetry Prize.

In this Rattlecast episode, host and editor of Rattle Timothy Green introduces Jennifer Manthey, who reads her poem “Locker Room Annunciation,” and Richard Siken, who reads from his latest collection, I Do Know Some Things (Copper Canyon Press, 2025), and reflects upon his decision to write prose poems as a means of grounding himself in the aftermath of a stroke.

“When the time of your life is a time of earthquakes.” In this PBS NewsHour interview, Arthur Sze reads from his latest collection, Into the Hush (Copper Canyon Press, 2025), and talks about his life and work, including his discoveries while translating literature. Sze has been named the twenty-fifth poet laureate of the United States.

In this Poets & Writers event, 2024 Jackson Poetry Prize winner Fady Joudah reads a selection of poems, including from his National Book Award–nominated collection, [...] (Milkweed Editions, 2024), and joins Pádraig Ó Tuama for a conversation about his work and life as a poet.

In this video, Ricardo Hernandez, assistant director of Programs & Partnerships at Poets & Writers, hosts a celebratory reading by the 2025 poetry cohort of Get the Word Out, a publicity incubator for early career authors. Readers include Adedayo Agarau, Genevieve DeGuzman, Isabella DeSendi, Alison Lubar, Nick Martino, Yamini Pathak, mick powell, Maya Salameh, Kelsey L. Smoot, and Bernardo Wade. DeSendi’s debut collection, Someone Else’s Hunger (Four Way Books, 2025), is featured in Page One in the September/October issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.