The following is a list of Poetry Readers and Events from previous seasons.
Literary Season 2010-2011
October 7, 2010: Celebration of the publication of The Poets Laureate Anthology, featuring former Poets Laureate Billy Collins, Rita Dove, Daniel Hoffman, Maxine Kunin, Kay Ryan, Charles Simic and Mark Strand.
October 25, 2010: Inaugural reading of Poet Laureate W. S. Merwin.
November 16, 2010: David Gewanter, Carol V. Davis, and Joseph Ross.
December 7, 2010: Lucille Lang Day, Col. Elspeth Cameron Ritchie, and Mary-Sherman Willis.
December 13, 2010: Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize: Lucia Perillo.
February 15, 2011: Alabama Poet Laureate Sue Brannan Walker, Michael Salcman and Michele Wolf.
March 15, 2011: Janee Baugher, Sarah Crossland and Elisavietta Ritchie.
March 23, 2011: C. D. Wright and David Wagoner.
April 19, 2011: Professional actors presented scenes and sonnets from Shakespeare in honor of the Bard’s birthday.
April 21, 2011: Witter-Bynner fellows: Forrest Gander and Robert Bringhurst.
May 4, 2011: Concluding reading of Poet Laureate W. S. Merwin.
May 24, 2011: Jody Bolz, Tom Healy, and Anne Harding Woodworth.
August 9, 2011: Sally Wolff of Emory University discussed her book, "Ledgers of History: William Faulkner, an Almost Forgotten Friendship, and an Antebellum Plantation Diary."
Literary Season 2009-2010
September 22, 2009: Sue Ellen Thompson, Barbara Crooker and Joseph Ross.
October 21, 2009: Poet Laureate Kay Ryan.
October 22, 2009: Open House with Poet Laureate Kay Ryan.
November 12, 2009: Tony Hoagland and Lucia Perillo.
February 18, 2010: Witter-Bynner Fellows: Jill McDonough and Atsuro Riley.
March 12, 2010: Heddy Reid and Margaret Mackinnon.
March 18, 2010: Albert Goldbarth and Eleanor Wilner.
March 23, 2010: A sampling of poems about Washington, DC, written over the past 60 years, was read by five poets who are included in a new anthology, "Full Moon on K Street," which is edited by Kim Roberts.
April 20, 2010: Actors from the Academy of Classical Acting at The George Washington University recited monologues and act out scenes for the "Shakespeare's Birthday Reading."
May 20, 2010: Poet Laureate Kay Ryan.
Literary Season 2008-2009
September 22, 2008: Contemporary Poetry from Northern Ireland co-sponsored by the NEA and Wake Forest University: Sue Ellen Thompson, Barbara Crooker and Joseph Ross.
October 2, 2008: Sinéad Morrissey and Chris Agee.
October 16, 2008: Poet Laureate Kay Ryan.
October 23, 2008: Jane Shore and Dabney Stuart.
November 18, 2008: Kentucky State Poet Laureate Jane Gentry Vance, Tony Crunk, Maurice Manning and Davis McCombs.
November 20, 2008: James Longenbach.
December 9, 2008: Indiana State Poet Laureate Norbert Krapf, former Indiana State Poet Laureate Joyce Brinkman, Ruthelen Burns and Joseph Heithaus.
February 10, 2009: Edwin Zimmerman, Kristi Berkey-Abbott and Judith Offer.
February 23-25, 2009: Symposium on Scottish poet "Robert Burns at 250," sponsored by the American Folklife Center, the government of Scotland, the PLC and the Center for the Book. Poet Laureate Kay Ryan and PLC head Patricia Gray served on an afternoon discussion panel.
February 26, 2009: Witter-Bynner Fellows: Mary Szybist and Christina Davis.
March 10, 2009: Daniel Mark Epstein.
April 2, 2009: Brigit Pegeen Kelly and J.D. McClatchy.
April 7, 2009: Twenty-eight award-winning alumni of the Poetry at Noon series.
April 17, 2009: David Huerta.
April 17, 2009: Poetry Marathon featuring poets from Spain, Latin America and the Caribbean.
April 21, 2009: Shakespeare birthday celebration with readings by classical Shakspearean actors and members of the audience.
April 28, 2009: Ellen Bass.
May 7, 2009: Poet Laureate Kay Ryan.
June 4, 2009: Aaron Taub.
Literary Season 2007-2008
October 9, 2007: Adele Steiner, Willa Schneberg and Nin Andrews.
October 18, 2007: Poet Laureate Charles Simic.
October 31, 2007: Bobbitt Prize: W.S. Merwin.
November 8, 2007: Stephen Dunn, Peter Klappert and Kathy Mangan.
December 4, 2007: South Carolina State Poet Laureate Marjory Wentworth, John Lane, Susan Meyers and Carol Ann Davis.
December 6, 2007: James Tate and Jorie Graham.
February 7, 2008: Li-Young Lee and David Kirby.
February 12, 2008: E. Ethelbert Miller, Sally Bliumis-Dunn and Ben Morris.
March 6, 2008: Witter-Bynner Fellows: Matthew Thorburn and Monica Youn.
March 11, 2008: Mary Buchinger, James L. Foy and Sheppard Ranborn.
March 18, 2008: Jody Bolz, Dan Logan and Preston Pulliam.
March 27, 2008: Rodney Jones and Ellen Bryant Voigt.
April 7, 2008: Evening of Russian Poetry co-sponsored by the NEA: Evgeny Bunimovich, Elena Fanailova and Yuli Gugolev.
April 11, 2008: An afternoon of Spanish poetry featuring poets from Spain, Latin America and the Caribbean.
April 17, 2008: Readings by anyone with a published poem (not your own).
April 22, 2008: Readings in honor of Shakespeare's birthday.
April 24, 2008: Former Poet Laureate Mark Strand and Charles Wright.
April 28, 2008: Bobbitt Prize: Bob Hicok and Charles Wright.
May 8, 2008: Poet Laureate Charles Simic.
Literary Season 2006-2007
September 20, 2006: Oscar Hijuelos and Lori Marie Carlson.
September 22, 2006: Odón Betanzos Palacios, Tino Villanueva, Naomi Ayala and Maricel Mayor Marsán.
October 3, 2006: Poet Laureate Donald Hall.
October 10, 2006: Michael Davis, Kay Lindsay, Larry Johnson and John O'Dell.
October 12, 2006: Galway Kinnell and David Tucker.
October 19, 2006: Small Nations Poetry Event
October 26, 2006: Jack Gilbert and Miranda Field.
November 9, 2006: Former Poet Laureate Maxine Kumin and Wesley McNair.
November 14, 2006: Bernadette Geyer, Carly Sachs and Marcela Sulak.
December 5, 2006: Roselyn Y. Cole, Kay Day and Dorothy Fletcher.
December 7, 2006: Henri Cole, Liam Rector and Judith Harris.
January 26, 2007: Clayton Eshleman.
February 13, 2007: Asian love poems.
March 13, 2007: Linda Annas Ferguson and Jeanne Murray Walker.
March 29, 2007: Witter-Bynner Fellows: Laurie Lamon and David Tucker.
May 10, 2007: Poet Laureate Donald Hall and Poet Laureate of the UK Andrew Motion.
May 15, 2007: Joy Gonsalves, Mary Elizabeth Murphy and Jean Nordhaus.
May 17, 2007: Coleman Barks and Robert Bly.
May 24, 2007: Dolores Kendrick and Philip Levine.
Literary Season 2005-2006
September 27, 2005: Kwame Alexander, Patricia Clark and Kim Roberts.
October 13, 2005: Poet Laureate Ted Kooser.
October 20, 2005: Carter Revard and Edward Weismuller.
October 25, 2005: Poetry at Noon.
November 3, 2005: Louisiana State Poet Laureate Brenda Osbey.
November 10, 2005: George Garrett.
November 15, 2005: Patricia Gray and David Kresh.
December 6, 2005: Sandra Beasley, Cliff Bernier, Karen Kevorkian, Lyn Lifshin, Mary-Sherman Willis and Katherine E. Young.
February 14, 2006: Marjory Wentworth, Rosemary Winslow, Marcella Wolfe-Gervais and Dominic W. Holt.
Feburary 16, 2006: Witter-Bynner Fellows: Joseph Stroud and Connie Wanek.
March 15, 2006: Grace Cavalieri and Susan Thomas.
April 19, 2006: Shakespeare's Birthday Reading: Graduates of The Shakespeare Theater's Academy of Classical Acting at The George Washington University.
April 27, 2006: National Poetry Month: Richard McCann, Kenny Carroll and young readers from Brightwood and Stanton elementary schools in Washington, DC.
May 23, 2006: Richard Hedderman and others.
Literary Season 2004-2005
November 19, 2004: Judith Harris, Christina Donnelly and Abby Wilderson.
December 2, 2004: Ho Xuan Huong.
December 7, 2004: John Carter, Gary Stein, Sauci Churchill, Carl Conover, Joanne Rocky Delaplaine, Patricia Valdata and Charles E. Wright.
December 9, 2004: Jared Carter and Deborah Magpie Earling.
February 1, 2005: Kenneth Carroll, Anna Hunter, Adell Coleman, Tina Pryce and Carenda Tillery.
February 8, 2005: Karen Benke, David Dalton and Moira Egan.
February 24, 2005: Witter-Bynner Fellows: Martin Walls and Claudia Emerson.
March 25, 2005: "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" by Walt Whitman, followed by a discussion of the Library's upcoming events to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the publication of "Leaves of Grass."
April 1, 2005: Poets reading in Spanish.
April 12, 2005: Shakespeare's Birthday Reading: Four professional actors from The Shakespeare Theater's Academy of Classical Acting at The George Washington University.
April 26, 2005: Jorie Graham.
April 27, 2005: Bobbitt Prize: B.H. Fairchild.
May 5, 2005: Poet Laureate Ted Kooser.
May 31, 2005: Whitman=s birthday and the anniversary of "Leaves of Grass" are celebrated with a reading by television and radio personality Robert Aubry Davis.
June 7, 2005: Marilyn Bates and George Bilgere.
Literary Season 2003-2004
September 26, 2003: Panel discussion about Ecuadorean Poet Laureate Jorge Carrera Andrade.
September 30, 2003: Poetry at Noon.
October 21, 2003: Poet Laureate Louise Glück.
October 22, 2003: Poet Laureate Louise Glück, former Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky and Frank Bidart.
October 23, 2003: Former Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky, Frank Bidart and David Gewanter.
October 28, 2003: Poetry reading.
November 13, 2003: Hobert Artken and other participants to be announced.
November 20, 2003: Frank Bidart and David Gewanter.
November 25, 2003: Kate Gale, Dennis Loney and Debra Nystrom.
December 4, 2003: Frank Bidart, David Gewanter and Jane Shore.
December 9, 2003: Sarah Browning, Michael Geshue, Eric Hintz, Carol Jennings, Joy Kraus, Gregory Orfalea and J.D. Smith.
February 13, 2004: Wisconsin State Poet Laureate Marilyn Taylor, Judith McCombs and Bonnie Naradzay.
February 24, 2004: Poetry at Noon.
February 24, 2004: Witter-Bynner Fellows: Dana Levin and Spencer Reece.
February 25, 2004: Symposium featuring Dana Levin, Spencer Reece, Peg Boyers, Dan Chiasson and Peter Streckfus.
March 16, 2004: Robert Aubry Davis.
April 8, 2004: "A Particular Life: Remembering Josephine Jacobsen," a tribute, with readings and reminiscences by some of her friends.
April 20, 2004: "Shakespeare's Birthday Reading," featuring classical actors and audience members reading from Shakespeare.
April 29, 2004: Yevgeny Yevtushenko.
May 3, 2004: Anne Carson and Claudia Rankine.
May 4, 2004: Poet Laureate Louise Glück.
May 11, 2004: Lucille Lang Day and Nan Fry.
July 9, 2004: Fernando Charry Lara and Armando Romero.
Literary Season 2002-2003
September 10, 2002: "Poetry on the Mountaintops."
October 9, 2002: Poet Laureate Billy Collins.
October 17, 2002: Carol Muske and Greg Delanty.
October 24, 2002: Lucille Clifton and another poet.
October 29, 2002: Padmini Mongia and David Kriebel.
November 7, 2002: Mary Jo Bang and Daniel Mark Epstein.
November 14, 2002: Kim Barnes and Robert Wrigley.
December 3, 2002: "Home and Hearth."
December 5, 2002: Bobbitt Prize: Alice Fulton.
January 17, 2003: Yeam Hong Choi, Haeng Ja Kim and Nam Soo Park. Witter-Bynner Fellows: Major Jackson and Rebecca Wee.
Feburary 11, 2003: Robert Aubry Davis.
Feburary 20, 2003: Jane Hirschfield and Glyn Maxwell.
March 5, 2003: Linda Gregerson.
March 13, 2003: Katha Pollitt and Linda Bierds.
April 26, 2003: Former Poet Laureate Robert Hass moderates River of Words environmental poetry and art contest.
May 7, 2003: Poet Laureate Billy Collins.
May 27, 2003: Pamela Harrison and Forestine Bynum.
Literary Season 2001-2002
October 18, 2001: "Urban Life."
November 8, 2001: John Ashbery and Tony Towle.
November 15, 2001: Five finalists in the first Phi Beta Kappa Poetry Award.
November 20, 2001: "Harvest."
November 29, 2001: Edward Hirsch and David Kirby.
December 6, 2001: Poet Laureate Billy Collins.
December 11, 2001: "Winter's Tales."
January 15, 2002: Dan Johnson and two others.
January 29, 2002: Davi Walders, Tonya Maria Matthews and Larae Van Clief-Stefanon.
February 7, 2002: David Lehman and Joshua Weiner.
February 14, 2002: Anne Marie Macari and Miles David Moore.
Feburary 28, 2002: Thomas Lynch and Mary O'Malley.
March 7, 2002: Dean Young and Mark Halliday.
March 21, 2002: Carolyn Kizer and Miller Williams.
April 3, 2002: Witter-Bynner Fellows: George Bilgere and Katia Kapovich.
April 18, 2002: Young Voices from the Nation's Capital: Centennial Celebration of Langston Hughes.
April 23, 2002: Shakespeare's Birthday Readings by four students from the Shakespeare Theater Academy for Classical Acting.
April 25, 2002: National Poetry Month readings.
April 27, 2002: International Environmental Poetry and Art Awards poetry contest winners.
May 8, 2002: Poet Laureate Billy Collins.
May 13, 2002: Former Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky hosts favorite poem readings by local library users.
May 14, 2002: "Midsummer Night's Dream."
Literary Season 2000-2001
January 28, 2000: Marie Howe and Tom Sleigh.
February 15, 2000: Mel Belin, Jean Kalmanoff, Mary ann Larkin and Patric Pepper.
February 24, 2000: Mark Doty.
March 14, 2000: Nancy Allinson, Cicely Angleton and Jill Williams.
April 3, 2000: Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky, Rita Dove, Louise Glück, W.S. Merwin and Witter-Bynner Fellows Naomi Shihab Nye and Joshua Weiner.
April 4, 2000: Readings from their translation of Dante's The Divine Comedy by Italy's ambassador Ferdinando Salleo, Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky and W.S. Merwin.
April 13, 2000: Readings by local school children of favorite poems and of their own work. Part of the District Lines Poetry Project. DC Poet Laureate Dolores Kendrick and Eloise Greenfield.
April 25, 2000: Shakespeare's Birthday Reading, John Bartoli.
April 26, 2000: Celebration marking the publication of Library of America's two-volume set American Poetry: The Twentieth Century with John Hollander and Carolyn Kizer.
April 29, 2000: Former Poet Laureate Robert Hass.
May 10, 2000: Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky.
October 10, 2000: "Hindsight."
October 12, 2000: Poet Laureate Stanley Kunitz.
November 2, 2000: Jeffrey Paine.
November 14, 2000: John Clarke, Bernadette Geyer and Kwelismith.
December 5, 2000: Marie Pavlicek-Wehrli and Gareth Phillips.
December 18, 2000: Bobbitt Prize: David Ferry with former Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky, Louise Glück and Frank Bidart.
February 13, 2001: Kwame Alexander, Grant LaRouche and Ann Silsbee.
March 8, 2001: Peter Davison.
March 9, 2001: Yuri Andrukhovych.
March 15, 2001: Dorianne Laux and Gregory Orr.
March 22, 2001: Jean Valentine and Cornelius Eady.
March 29, 2001: Michael Burkard and Sapphire.
April 5, 2001: Witter-Bynner Fellows: Tory Dent and Nick Flynn.
April 12, 2001: Yusef Komunyakaa.
April 19, 2001: Gerald Stern.
April 24, 2001: Shakespeare's Birthday Reading featuring four graduate students from the new Academy of Classical Acting at the Shakespeare Theater and The George Washington University, Mark Cohen, Bill Davis, Peggy Scott and Susan Wilder.
April 26, 2001: "Young Voices from the Nation's Capital" presented students, grades 4-12. Part of the District Lines Poetry Project.
May 9, 2001: Poet Laureate Stanley Kunitz.
May 15, 2001: "Poems about Animals."
