At the close of National Poetry Month, April 2009, we would like to leave you with some audio thoughts that may encourage further exploration. Some may feel that poetry is inaccessible, but finding the right poem, or the right way a poet describes a poem, can open you up to reinterpreting the mundane. Below are some DVD’s about poetry, and the tortured and not so tortured poetic soul.
Arrows of desire: Poets on poems
A four-part series exploring English poetry providing insight into the poetic craft by looking at classic examples in a number of forms, such as love poems, elegies, nature poems, and comic verse.
Call Number: PS323.A7723 2003 (Boca Media Center) -DVD
Before night falls
The story of Cuban poet and novelist Reinaldo Arenas.
Call Number: PN1997 .B44126 2001 (Boca Raton Media Center) – VHS
The collected poetry of Nikki Giovanni
Poet Nikki Giovanni talks about her book, The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni, 1968-1998.
Call Number: PS3557.I55Z474 2003 (Boca Media Center) – DVD
Glitterbox
A collection of 4 films by Derek Jarman, originally released between 1985 and 1993, including The angelic conversation. in which fourteen of Shakespeare’s sonnets are taken as a basis for a rapturous celebration of homoerotic love in both its spiritual and sensual dimensions.
Call Number: PN1997.A1J37 2008 (Boca Media Center) -DVD
Mirror of the soul: The Forough Farrokhzad trilogy
A three-part documentary about the life and work of controversial Iranian poet Forough Farrokhzad
Call Number: PK6561.F264Z69 2007 (Boca Media Center) – DVD
Piñero
The story of the life of a Latino icon, the poet-playwright-actor Miguel Piñero, whose urban poetry is recognized as a pre-cursor to rap and hip-hop.
Call Number: PN1997.2.P5647 2002 (Boca Media Center) – DVD
Sounds of Poetry
Segments of the Festival which featured poets reading selections of their verse and talking with Bill Moyers about the language of poetry. A few of the Poets included are:
Coleman Barks (Jupiter Media Center) – VHS
Lorna Dee Cervantes and Shirley Geok-lin Lim (Jupiter Media Center) – VHS
Lucille Clifton and Mark Doty (Jupiter Media Center) – VHS
Marge Piercy (Jupiter Media Center) – VHS
(See ILL to check out from Boca)