POET'S VOICE, THE: PABLO NERUDA {KOSOFSKY ETHNIC RADIO COLLECTION -- ENGLISH/SPANISH} (RADIO)
Summary
One in these series of WNYC programs which profiles
poets and presents recordings of them reading from their
work at the Unterberg Poetry Center at the 92nd Street Y
in New York City. Blair Brown hosts this program which
chronicles the life and art of Chilean poet Pablo
Neruda, a recipient of the Nobel Prize who also served
as a diplomat and communist party leader in his native
land. Brown begins by describing the art of this
protean poet whose work is both political and intensely
personal. Most of the poems in this program are read in
English by translators of his work. Highlights include:
a recording from Neruda's 1966 appearance at the
Unterberg Poetry Center, in which he thanks the
gathering for their presence at his reading; a reading
from the poet's "Memoirs"; Brown provides a brief
biographical sketch of the poet's childhood and young
adult life; Brown comments on Neruda's most popular
book of poetry (which he wrote when he was only twenty
years old) "Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair"; a
reading of the poem "Body of a Woman" by Neruda
translator Robert Bly; Brown recounts the five lonely
years Neruda spent in Rangoon, Burma, for the Chilean
Diplomatic Service, and how this unhappy tenure led him
to create some of his most beautiful, dark, and surreal
work; the poet Mark Strand reads "Walking Around"; a
brief reading from Neruda's "Memoirs"; Brown chronicles
how Neruda's service as consul to Spain in the mid 1930s
during the Spanish Civil War helped to politicize his
poetry; the poet and translator Nathaniel Tarn reads
"I'm Explaining a Few Things"; Brown comments on
Neruda's involvement in the election of communist
Chilean President Gabriel Gonzalez Videla, and Videla's
subsequent outlawing of communism which led to the
poet's exile in Europe; Brown reflects on what she calls
Neruda's central work, "Canto General"; Robert Bly reads
"The Dictators"; a reading from Neruda's "Memoirs";
Brown reveals Neruda's passion for collecting various
items, filling his home with both eccentric and ordinary
objects, in a celebration of the commonplace; Neruda
reads "Ode to the Tomato" (while Nathaniel Tarn provides
an English translation); Brown recalls Neruda's post as
Chilean ambassador to Paris in the early 1970s, the
government of the poet's friend President Salvador
Allende, and Neruda being awarded the Nobel Prize in
literature; the host describes Neruda's great optimism
in 1972 when he once again read at the 92nd Street Y;
she then recounts the horrid turn of events in his life
in 1973 when he became ill with cancer and was witness
to the brutal military coup in Chile which saw the
assassination of Allende; Brown chronicles the death of
the anguished poet eleven days after the coup on
September 23, 1973; Alistair Reed then reads his
translation of Neruda's "Lazy Bones," which the poet had
identified as the one piece of writing which was
representative of all else he had done; Brown concludes
the program by remembering how the Chilean military's
attempt to restrain the public from visiting Neruda's
house transformed his home into a shrine and later a
public museum when democracy was restored in Chile in
1990.
The acquisition and cataloging of this program were
made possible by Marvin and Jacqueline Kosofsky.
Details
- NETWORK: NPR National Public Radio
- DATE: February 11, 1995
- RUNNING TIME: 0:28:59
- COLOR/B&W: N/A
- CATALOG ID: R:12155
- GENRE: Radio - Arts documentaries; Radio - Talk/Interviews
- SUBJECT HEADING: Biography; Chile; Poetry; Poets; Writers
- SERIES RUN: NPR - Radio series, 1995
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Lauren Krenzel … Executive Producer
- Donna Gallers … Producer, Writer
- Karl Kirchwey … Series developed by
- Melissa Hammerle … Series developed by
- Alison Chernow … Series developed by
- Larry Orfaly … Series developed by
- Enrico Mario Santi … Poetry Cosultant
- Blair Brown … Host
- Neruda, Pablo (Neftal’ Ricardo Reyes Basaulto) … Performer
- Robert Bly … Performer
- Mark Strand … Performer
- Nathaniel Tarn … Performer
- Allende, Salvador (Salvador Allende Gossens)
- Gabriel Gonzalez Videla