Hear reading by Poet Robert Pinsky

"In my opinion the medium of poetry is not words, not images, not lines," Poet Robert Pinsky said during the preamble to the first poem he presented last night (Feb 10). "The medium for poetry is one person's voice. It's the human body. Breath."

Pinsky added he was not referring only to the poet's voice. Nevertheless a packed Donahue Auditorium sat for over an hour last night (Feb 10), transfixed by the words, body language and even the breath of the former US Poet Laureate. His appearance was sponsored by the The Francis Smith SJ Poetry Series and JCU's Creative Writing Program. To access the menu and hear audio streaming of the introduction by Poet and Director George Bilgere, the readings of Pinsky and his answers to the audience's questions, click on the audio-speakers icon above.

English Professor George Bilgere, Director of the Creative Writing Program, greeted the crowd overflowing Donahue Auditorium in the Dolan Science Center

For audio streaming, click on the icon to the left of each segment
	Introduction of Robert Pinsky by George Bilgere
	Robert Pinsky: "Samurai Song"
	Robert Pinsky: "A-B-C"
	Robert Pinsky: "The Shirt"
	Robert Pinsky: "Ginza Samba"
	Robert Pinsky:"Poem with Refrains"
	Robert Pinsky: "At Pleasure Bay"
Q&A
	1. What happens to the life of a poem after you've done all the editing and sent it out to be published?
	2. What is the most difficult thing for you about being a poet?
	3. Your poetry is very musical, almost percussive. Can you say anything about the nonverbal dimension of your work?
	4. We had a poetry workshop at our library and I had 18 readers, 36 people, all strangers. By the end they were all friends.
	5. You began by saying that poetry is the medium of the human voice. Does that mean when you sit down to write, you think especially of the audience?
	6. (From a child in the audience:) Have you written any poems for children?
	7. Has there ever been anything that's gotten in the way of your creative flow, or obstructed you from completing a poem?
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