Emmanuel Jal, an internationally recognized hip-hop musician, former child soldier turned activist and entrepreneur, shares his story and music. Jal was born into the life of a child solider in the early 1980s in the war-torn region of Southern Sudan. He calls upon all of us to engage with our world and become global citizens through scholarship, leadership and service. [Show ID: 33490]

Should your art send you to prison? Rap lyrics are increasingly turning up as evidence in courtrooms across the country. The fictional characters portrayed in violent gansta rap songs are often a far cry from the true personalities of the artists behind them, yet uninitiated audiences easily conflate artist with character and fiction with fact. On a broader scale, using rap lyrics as evidence in criminal cases also raises questions about artistic freedom, freedom of speech and the rights of...

Yusef Komunyakaa, an internationally renowned poet who won the Pulitzer Prize for “Neon Vernacular: New and Selected Poems," reads and discusses his work while writer-in-residence at UC Santa Barbara. Series: "Voices" [Show ID: 32148]

Former Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky describes himself as a "composer" who considers poetry to be first and foremost a vocal art, and his work seeks to blur the distinctions between language and music by emphasizing the rhythms and innate physicality of recited verse in a jazz context. In this performance for the 22nd Writer's Symposium by the Sea at Point Loma Nazarene University, Pinsky's reading is accompanied by a talented trio of PLNU students. The music - a blend of rehearsed and...

UC Berkeley professors, Robert and Sally Goldman, led the 40-year project to translate the Sanskrit epic poem Valmiki Ramayana to modern English. Series: "UC Berkeley News" [Humanities] [Show ID: 31985]

New Orleans native Sunni Patterson is an internationally-known Def poetry artist and activist. She is joined in a conversation with George Lipsitz and David Kim about her music and poetry, and her life reaching, teaching and healing. Series: "Voices" [Humanities] [Show ID: 31570]

New Orleans native Sunni Patterson powerfully recites one of her many poems. Series: "Voices" [Public Affairs] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 31630]

Poet Nikki Giovanni reads a selection of her poems as part of the 2016 Writer’s Symposium by the Sea at Point Loma Nazarene University. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Humanities] [Show ID: 30819]

Author, spoken word artist, poet, essayist, professor, Nikki Giovanni has been electrifying audiences for more than 40 years, earning her one of Oprah Winfrey’s Living Legends distinctions. She delivers here as well, with a passionate and engaging performance and interview with host Dean Nelson of Point Loma Nazarene University. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Humanities] [Show ID: 29674]

One of the year’s most lively events, the student reading includes winners of the following prizes: Academy of American Poets, Cook, Rosenberg, and Yang, as well as students nominated by Berkeley’s creative writing faculty, Lunch Poems volunteers, and representatives from student publications. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 29740]

Joshua Weiner is the author of three books of poetry, most recently, The Figure of a Man Being Swallowed by a Fish (2013). He is also the editor of At the Barriers: On the Poetry of Thom Gunn, and the poetry editor at Tikkun magazine. He is the recipient of a Whiting Writers’ Award, the Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and a 2014 fellowship from the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, among others. A professor of English at the University of Maryland, he lives with his...

Jane Hirshfield's eighth poetry book, The Beauty, appears from Knopf in early 2015, along with a new book of essays, Ten Windows. Previous books include Come, Thief (Knopf, 2011) and After (2006), named a best book of the year by The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The Financial Times (UK). She has also written a book of essays, Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry and edited and co-translated four books of work by world poets of the past. Her honors include The Poetry...

Harmony Holiday is a poet, dancer, and archivist, mythscientist and the author of Negro League Baseball (Fence, 2011), Go Find Your Father/ A Famous Blues (Ricochet, 2014), and “Hollywood Forever” (Fence, 2015). She reads to an audience at UC Berkeley. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 29488]

Maria Hummel is the author of the award-winning poetry collection “House and Fire“ and of two novels, “Motherland” and “Wilderness Run.” Her poetry, fiction, and nonfiction have appeared in Poetry, New England Review, Narrative, The Sun, The New York Times, and the anthology The Open Door: 100 Poems, 100 Years of Poetry Magazine. Series: "Story Hour in the Library" [Humanities] [Show ID: 29366]

Gillian Conoley was born in Austin Texas, where, on its rural outskirts, her father and mother owned and operated a radio station. She is the author of seven collections of poetry. She is Professor and Poet-in-Residence at Sonoma State University. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 29108]

Robin Robertson is from the Northeast coast of Scotland. He has published five collections of poetry—most recently Hill of Doors—and received a number of accolades, including the Petrarch Prize, the E.M. Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Cholmondeley Award, and all three Forward Prizes. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 29009]

In partnership with City Lights Books, who first published Frank O’Hara’s “Lunch Poems” 50 years ago, this special event features readings from a newly expanded edition that also includes communiqués by O’Hara pulled from the City Lights archive housed at the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley. Participants include: Jayne Gregory, Robert Hass, Owen Hill, Elaine Katzenberger, Evan Klavon, Giovanni Singleton, Julianna Spahr, Joseph Bush and Matthew Zapruder. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series"...

Hosted by Robert Hass and University Librarian Thomas C. Leonard, this event features distinguished faculty and staff from a wide range of disciplines introducing and reading a favorite poem. This year’s participants: La Dawn Duvall (Visitor & Parent Services), Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of Students Joseph Defraine Greenwell, Steven Finacom (Capital Projects), Alex Mastrangeli (English), Steve Mendoza (University Library), Carolyn Merchant (Environmental Science, Policy, &...

UC Berkeley Executive Director of Visitor and Parent Services La Dawn Duvall reads Maya Angelou’s poem “Phenomenal Woman.” Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 29005]

UC Berkeley Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of Students Joseph Defraine Greenwell reads Maya Angelou’s poem “Alone.” Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 29006]

UC Berkeley Professor of Environmental History, Philosphy and Ethics Carolyn Merchant reads David Iltis’ poem “The Lesson” Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 29007]

UC Berkeley Bioengineering Professor Kimmen Sjölander reads “Keeping Quiet” by Pablo Neruda. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 29008]