Author Talks: Bertolt Brecht Out Loud
Some of today’s most captivating writers, musicians, and actors perform Brecht’s funny, heartbreaking, personal, and political verse.
FEATURING:
- - Shane McCrae
- - Jessica Hagedorn
- - Lisa Kron
- - Paul Muldoon (with the band Rogue Oliphant)
- - Austin Pendleton
- - Rowan Ricardo Phillips
- - Alexandria Wailes
Though he is widely regarded as the greatest German playwright of the twentieth century, among English readers it is less known that all the while Bertolt Brecht was doing double duty as a poet. Touching on subjects from chess to war to sex, he composed more than 2,000 poems, though fewer than half were published in his lifetime.
Now award-winning translators David Constantine and Tom Kuhn have made 1,200 of Brecht’s poems available to English readers in The Collected Poems of Bertolt Brecht, the most comprehensive collection of his poetry to date. To celebrate this monumental achievement, artists from across disciplines will gather at the Library to read aloud and perform poems that illustrate his ever-lasting lust for life.
FIRST COME, FIRST SEATED
For free events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. Priority will be given to those who have registered in advance, but registration does not guarantee admission. All registered seats are released shortly before start time, and seats may become available at that time. A standby line will form one hour before the program.
PRESS
Please send all press inquiries (photo, video, interviews, audio-recording, etc.) at least 24-hours before the day of the program to Sara Beth Joren at sarabethjoren@nypl.org. For all other inquiries, please contact publicprograms@nypl.org.