- Playing
- Houdini by Kay Ryan
- From
- Curtis Fox
Host Intro:
This is Poetry Off the Shelf, from the Poetry Foundation. In this poem, Kay Ryan meditates on the transformations of history's most famous escape artist, Harry Houdini. She writes about Houdini's "art," where he seems to blend with the chains that bind him. Then she speculates on the moment when he must return to his ordinary self, and how this moment of return was perhaps the hardest part. The reader is Anne O'Sullivan..
Host Outro:
"Houdini" by Kay Ryan, published in The Niagara River, (2005) by Grove Press. The poem was read by Annie O'Sullivan, and produced by The Poetry Foundation, on-line at poetryfoundation.org.
Also in the Poetry Off the Shelf series
Togetherness, by Yusef Komunyakaa
(00:01:23)
From: Curtis Fox
Actor Dion Flynn reads Yusef Komunyakaa's poem Togetherness
Happiness by Jane Kenyon
(00:01:35)
From: Curtis Fox
Jane Kenyon's poem Happiness, read by the actress Mary Testa
Permanent Press by Alice Friman
(00:00:53)
From: Curtis Fox
Poet Alice Friman reads his poem Affirmation
Seeing it Through by Alice Friman
(00:00:39)
From: Curtis Fox
Poet Alice Friman reads her poem Seeing it Through
Stolen Moments by Kim Addonizio
(00:01:20)
From: Curtis Fox
Poet Kim Addonizio reads her poem Stolen Moments
Sotto Voce by C. Dale Young
(00:01:26)
From: Curtis Fox
Poet C. Dale Young reads his poem Sotto Voce
Time Done is Dark by Michelle Boisseau
(00:01:36)
From: Curtis Fox
Poet Michelle Boisseau reads her poem Time Done is Dark
Learning the Bicycle by Wyatt Prunty
(00:01:32)
From: Curtis Fox
Poet Wyatt Prunty reads his poem Learning the Bicycle
Minor Miracle by Marilyn Nelson
(00:02:40)
From: Curtis Fox
Poet Marilyn Nelson reads her poem Minor Miracle
Related Pieces
Piece Description
Host Intro: This is Poetry Off the Shelf, from the Poetry Foundation. In this poem, Kay Ryan meditates on the transformations of history's most famous escape artist, Harry Houdini. She writes about Houdini's "art," where he seems to blend with the chains that bind him. Then she speculates on the moment when he must return to his ordinary self, and how this moment of return was perhaps the hardest part. The reader is Anne O'Sullivan.. Host Outro: "Houdini" by Kay Ryan, published in The Niagara River, (2005) by Grove Press. The poem was read by Annie O'Sullivan, and produced by The Poetry Foundation, on-line at poetryfoundation.org.
Related Website
Of 4 purchasers of this piece...
- 4 also bought:
One Afternoon by Joanie Mackowski (00:02:12) - 4 also bought:A Pedestrian by Amit Majmudar (00:00:59)
- 4 also bought:Branch Library by Edward Hirsch (00:00:46)
- 4 also bought:In the Metro by C. K. Williams (00:02:46)
- 4 also bought:Busman's Honeymoon by A. F. Moritz (00:01:02)
James Reiss
Posted on February 21, 2007 at 10:13 AM | Permalink
Review of Houdini by Kay Ryan
Kay Ryan's lean, hungry poem, "Houdini," sings in its chains. It unlocks the secret of really good poems, i.e., that they contain energy equal to their mass, however puny, multiplied by the speed of light, squared. Curtis Fox's seamless production of Ryan's H(oudini) Bomb, read aloud in a haunting rendition by Annie O'Sullivan, is a perfect interstitial intro for verse bashers during National Poetry Month. "Houdini" is transparent, not at all arcane, yet it will knock the socks off radio listeners with its Emily Dickinsonian smarts, its mystery and ponderability, its all but laugh-out-loud slant rhyme of "routinely" with "Houdini." I guarantee you won't be able to escape from this doozy.