The Great Hall at Cooper Union
On a rainy evening in lower Manhattan, eleven Pulitzer-winning poets gathered to read their and other prize winners’ work, tell stories and listen to music by Pulitzer-winning composers.
The event, organized by the Poetry Society of America and held at Cooper Union, was part of the Pulitzer Centennial Campfires Initiative, which partnered with the New York Council for the Humanities.
The Poetry Society of America was instrumental in the establishment of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. After the first Pulitzer Prizes were awarded, Poetry Society of America Board President Edward J. Wheeler petitioned the president of Columbia University to include poetry as a category. After receiving a reply that no funds had been allocated for such, Wheeler secured $500 on behalf of the Poetry Society of America from a New York City arts patron in order to establish the prize, and in 1922, Columbia University and the Pulitzer Board voted to regularlize the award.
The rare gathering of so many prize-winning poets drew a full house, including students from Harlem Academy, a private school for gifted children from underserved communities. The Poetry Society of America produces the annual Visiting Poets Program at Harlem Academy.
Harlem Academy students in the audience
Two musical interludes punctuated the readings. Pianist Pedja Muzjevic and violinist Johnny Gandelsman performed a piece by 2007 Pulitzer winner David Lang, and later Gandelsman played a piece for solo violin by 2013 winner Caroline Shaw.
The full list of poets present and the poems they read is below, with photos from the event.
POEMS AND POETS
Rae Armantrout, Yusef Komunyakaa and Sharon Olds backstage before the event began.
Rae Armantrout
Sections 18 and 19 by George Oppen from Of Being Numerous (1969)
And her own “Scumble” and “Unbidden” from Versed (2010)
David Lehman
David Lehman on behalf of John Ashbery
“Neighbors” by James Tate from Selected Poems (1992)
and John Ashbery’s “Worsening Situation” from Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror (1976)
Peter Balakian
“The Lost Son” section V by Theodore Roethke, winner for The Waking (1954)
and his own “Here and Now” from Ozone Journal (2016)
Peter Balakian and Stephen Dunn
Carl Dennis
“Spanish Lesson” by Philip Levine from The Simple Truth (1995)
and his own “The God Who Loves You” from Practical Gods (2002)
Carl Dennis
Stephen Dunn
“The Tourist from Syracuse” by Donald Justice from Selected Poems (1980)
and his own “Before the Sky Darkens” from Different Hours (2001)
Alice Quinn
Alice Quinn on behalf of Jorie Graham
“As I walked out one evening” by W.H. Auden, winner for The Age of Anxiety (1948)
Yusef Komunyakaa
“Love Poem: I and Thou” by Alan Dugan from Poems (1962)
and his own “Safe Subjects” from Neon Vernacular (1994)
Sharon Olds
“The Womanhood” section 8, Beverly Hills Chicago by Gwendolyn Brooks from Annie Allen (1950)
and her own “Known to Be Left” from Stag’s Leap (2013)
Gregory Pardlo speaks to a member of the audience after the event.
Gregory Pardlo
“First Song” by Galway Kinnell from Selected Poems (1983)
and his own “Wishing Well” from Digest (2015)
Vijay Seshadri
Vijay Seshadri
“The Pardon” by Richard Wilbur from New and Collected Poems (1989)
and his own “Trailing Clouds of Glory” from 3 Sections (2014)
Philip Schultz
“Letter to N.Y.” by Elizabeth Bishop from Poems: North & South — A Cold Spring (1956)
and his own “A Truth from Failure” from Failure (2008)
Stephen Dunn and Natasha Trethewey enter the Great Hall at Cooper Union together, followed by Charles Wright and Vijay Seshadri, with Laurin Macios of the Poetry Society.
Natasha Trethewey
“Natural History Exhibits” by Claudia Emerson from Late Wife (2006)
and her own “Myth” from Native Guard (2007)
Charles Wright
“Dream Song #4” by John Berryman from 77 Dream Songs (1965)
and his own “Jesuit Graves” from Black Zodiac (1998)
Carl Dennis, Charles Wright and Philip Schultz
MUSIC
Johnny Gandelsman performs Caroline Shaw's "in manus tuas."
David Lang (2007 Pulitzer Prize in Music), “light moving”
Johnny Gandelsman, violin
Pedja Muzjevic, piano
Caroline Shaw (2013 Pulitzer Prize in Music), “in manus tuas” for violin solo
Johnny Gandelsman, violin