Poets & Writers Theater

“I was born passing / off the problem of the twentieth century: I was born.” In this 2016 video, Gregory Pardlo reads “Written By Himself” from his Pulitzer Prize–winning poetry collection, Digest (Four Way Books, 2014), accompanied by the Finnish jazz combo Hot Heros at the Annikki Poetry Festival in Finland. For a writing prompt inspired by this poem, visit The Time Is Now.

“He always plays with this tension between the life above and the life below.” In this short animated film, artist Ilana Simons presents a biography of Haruki Murakami and highlights moments in his life that have influenced his writing.

Tobias Wolff reads an excerpt of his short story "All Ahead of Them" accompanied by his son's jazz band, the San Francisco Repertory Jazz Quartet. Wolff was presented the National Medal of Arts by President Obama last month for his contributions as an author and educator.