Poets & Writers Theater
Every day we share a new clip of interest to creative writers—author readings, book trailers, publishing panels, craft talks, and more. So grab some popcorn, filter the theater tags by keyword or genre, and explore our sizable archive of literary videos.
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“Hip-hop is Ralph Ellison, who once said the blues is like running a razor blade along an open sore.” In this audio recording from the 1996 album Flippin’ the Script: Rap Meets Poetry released by Mouth Almighty Records, author and critic Greg Tate reads his poem “What Is Hip Hop?” The influential journalist and author of Flyboy in the Buttermilk: Essays on Contemporary America (Simon & Schuster, 1992), died at the age of sixty-three on December 7, 2021.
Tags: Poetry | Creative Nonfiction | Spoken Word | Greg Tate | music | hip-hop | 1996 | in memoriam | Flyboy in the Buttermilk -
“If in his image made am I, then make me a miracle...” For PBS NewsHour’s “Brief but Spectacular” series, Marcus Wicker talks about the influence of hip-hop in his poetry and reads his poem “Conjecture on the Stained Glass Image of White Christ at Ebenezer Baptist Church.”
Tags: Poetry | Marcus Wicker | Brief But Spectacular | PBS NewsHour | hip-hop -
In this Poetry in America video, hip-hop artist Nas sits down with Elisa New, professor of American Literature at Harvard University, to discuss his approach to writing and break down his lyrics. Poetry in America, created and directed by New, is a multi-platform initiative that encourages the spread of poetry through classes, conversations, and digital outreach.
Tags: Poetry | Nas | Elisa New | Poetry in America | music | Harvard University | hip-hop -
Kevin Coval and Nate Marshall, editors of the poetry anthology The Breakbeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop (Haymarket Books, 2015), speak about the impact hip-hop has had on poetry and on their own writing.
