Poetry Reading by Gary Snyder

This reading by Pulitzer Prize winner Gary Snyder from October 17, 1978 is the earliest in the Friends of the Scranton Public Library Poetry Series. Snyder was actually the fourth reader in the series, but was the first poet whose performance was filmed. The reading was held in the Everhart Museum. You can see paintings in the background. Note that, during David Elliott's introduction, he mentions the Scranton Area Foundation as a funder for the series. They also, 34 years later, funded this restoration project. We were not aware of this when we approached them for funding. Why were we not aware? Because we were unable to play the film reels. Thanks to the Scranton Area Foundation, we now have access to these historic readings. Snyder's performance mixes his interest in Zen Buddhism and a concern for the environment with irreverent humor. One can assume that the "Batman Song" at 20:40 is non-canonical. Here is a direct link to the reading.