Poetry

Landesman's name isn't well known, but her songs are, like "Ballad of the Sad Young Men" and "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most." She was part of the 1950s Beat scene, and now lives in London.

The writer has also worked as a diplomat. Artistically and professionally, he has explored the cultural and political identity of his home country. His new book is about the poet Sor Juana; Paz says her life mirrors his own in several ways.

Edward Hirsch was an All-American football player in college -- at the same time he became interested in poetry. He talks about how insomnia, sports, and restlessness affect his life and writing. He reads several poems for Fresh Air listeners.

Poet Mark Halliday deals with troubling memories by writing about them. He shares a new poem, in which he tries to dispense with a number of bad memories all at once.

Poet Sharon Olds. She writes passionate and intensely personal poems about her childhood with abusive and alcoholic parents, and her own experiences as a mother and a wife. Suicide attempts in New York, and encounters on the subway also provide inspiration for her work. Sharon Olds is the recipient of the 1985 National Book Critics Circle Award for her collection titled The Dead and the Living.

Poet W.S.Merwin. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his 1970 work, The Carriers of Ladders. His books of poetry include The Song of Roland, The Compass Flower and, his latest collection, The Rain in the Trees.

Poet Mark Halliday. He'll read "Memory Sampler," a poem he composed in an attempt to dispose of a whole series of troubling past experiences. Halliday is an English professor at the University of Pennsylvania. His first volume of poetry is titled Little Star.

Rock Critic Ken Tucker reviews "I'm Your Man," the new Leonard Cohen album.

Fresh Air's classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz. It's part of our continuing series of conversations with Fresh Air's contributors. Schwartz is the classical music editor of the Boston Phoenix and writes for The Atlantic magazine and Vanity Fair. Schwartz was the winner of the 1987 ASCAP Deems Taylor for music criticism.

Novelist and translator Richard Lourie. His new novel is titled Zero Gravity and follows his successful debut First Loyalty. Lourie has been closely involved with the Russian and Polish underground intelligentsia and the emigre communities in America.

Poet, essayist and short story writer Tess Gallagher. A collection of her new and earlier poetry has just been published. It's titled Amplitude: New and Selected Poems.

Poet Richard Hell. He moved to New York City in the 70s, intending to concentrate on poetry. But he was drawn to the emerging punk rock scene and quickly became one of its best known acts with his band Richard Hell and the Voidoids. He later landed roles in the films "Smithereens" and "Desperately Seeking Susan." He is writing poetry again, editing the new poetry journal Cuz, and running the poetry programs at the St. Marks Poetry Project.

Poet Denise Levertov.

Japanese poet Nanao Sakaki. His poems combine classical Asian culture with contemporary vernacular. He befriended beat poets like Allen Ginsberg and Gary Snyder, who wrote the forward to Sakaki's new book, Break the Mirror.

James Laughlin, founder and editor of New Directions Books, a small publishing house that has brought out the work of avant-garde poets like Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams. Laughlin is himself a poet and an authority on Ezra Pound.

Salvadoran poet Claribel Alegria. She has lived in exile for many years. She now lives in Nicaragua. Her best-known book is titled Flowers From the Volcano.

Poet and playwright Kenneth Koch. He has written books on working with children to get them to write poetry. He is one of the most respected of the New York poets.

Poet Mark Halliday is inspired as much by popular culture and music as he is by the work of other poets. His latest collection is called Little Star.

Puerto Rican songwriter and performer Roy Brown discusses the Nueva Cancion movement, which sets politically-charged poetry to music. He performs several songs in studio.

Bly's work has dealt with nature, the Vietnam War, and gender differences. He considers the impact living simply in Minnesota has had on his writing.