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In Their Own Voices: A Century of Recorded Poetry
A collections of different poets, like Robert Frost, reading, in their own voices, their works.
- GenresPoetryAnthologies
4 pages, Audio Cassette
First published April 1, 1997
13 people want to read
About the author
Erica Jong
118 books862 followersErica Jong—novelist, poet, and essayist—has consistently used her craft to help provide women with a powerful and rational voice in forging a feminist consciousness. She has published 21 books, including eight novels, six volumes of poetry, six books of non-fiction and numerous articles in magazines and newspapers such as the New York Times, the Sunday Times of London, Elle, Vogue, and the New York Times Book Review.
In her groundbreaking first novel, Fear of Flying (which has sold twenty-six million copies in more than forty languages), she introduced Isadora Wing, who also plays a central part in three subsequent novels—How to Save Your Own Life, Parachutes and Kisses, and Any Woman's Blues. In her three historical novels—Fanny, Shylock's Daughter, and Sappho's Leap—she demonstrates her mastery of eighteenth-century British literature, the verses of Shakespeare, and ancient Greek lyric, respectively. A memoir of her life as a writer, Seducing the Demon: Writing for My Life, came out in March 2006. It was a national bestseller in the US and many other countries. Erica’s latest book, Sugar in My Bowl, is an anthology of women writing about sex, has been recently released in paperback.
Erica Jong was honored with the United Nations Award for Excellence in Literature. She has also received Poetry magazine's Bess Hokin Prize, also won by W.S. Merwin and Sylvia Plath. In France, she received the Deauville Award for Literary Excellence and in Italy, she received the Sigmund Freud Award for Literature. The City University of New York awarded Ms. Jong an honorary PhD at the College of Staten Island.
Her works have appeared all over the world and are as popular in Eastern Europe, Japan, China, and other Asian countries as they have been in the United States and Western Europe. She has lectured, taught and read her work all over the world.
A graduate of Barnard College and Columbia University's Graduate Faculties where she received her M.A. in 18th Century English Literature, Erica Jong also attended Columbia's graduate writing program where she studied poetry with Stanley Kunitz and Mark Strand. In 2007, continuing her long-standing relationship with the university, a large collection of Erica’s archival material was acquired by Columbia University’s Rare Book & Manuscript Library, where it will be available to graduate and undergraduate students. Ms. Jong plans to teach master classes at Columbia and also advise the Rare Book Library on the acquisition of other women writers’ archives.
Calling herself “a defrocked academic,” Ms. Jong has partly returned to her roots as a scholar. She has taught at Ben Gurion University in Israel, Bennington College in the US, Breadloaf Writers’ Conference in Vermont and many other distinguished writing programs and universities. She loves to teach and lecture, though her skill in these areas has sometimes crowded her writing projects. “As long as I am communicating the gift of literature, I’m happy,” Jong says. A poet at heart, Ms. Jong believes that words can save the world.
In her groundbreaking first novel, Fear of Flying (which has sold twenty-six million copies in more than forty languages), she introduced Isadora Wing, who also plays a central part in three subsequent novels—How to Save Your Own Life, Parachutes and Kisses, and Any Woman's Blues. In her three historical novels—Fanny, Shylock's Daughter, and Sappho's Leap—she demonstrates her mastery of eighteenth-century British literature, the verses of Shakespeare, and ancient Greek lyric, respectively. A memoir of her life as a writer, Seducing the Demon: Writing for My Life, came out in March 2006. It was a national bestseller in the US and many other countries. Erica’s latest book, Sugar in My Bowl, is an anthology of women writing about sex, has been recently released in paperback.
Erica Jong was honored with the United Nations Award for Excellence in Literature. She has also received Poetry magazine's Bess Hokin Prize, also won by W.S. Merwin and Sylvia Plath. In France, she received the Deauville Award for Literary Excellence and in Italy, she received the Sigmund Freud Award for Literature. The City University of New York awarded Ms. Jong an honorary PhD at the College of Staten Island.
Her works have appeared all over the world and are as popular in Eastern Europe, Japan, China, and other Asian countries as they have been in the United States and Western Europe. She has lectured, taught and read her work all over the world.
A graduate of Barnard College and Columbia University's Graduate Faculties where she received her M.A. in 18th Century English Literature, Erica Jong also attended Columbia's graduate writing program where she studied poetry with Stanley Kunitz and Mark Strand. In 2007, continuing her long-standing relationship with the university, a large collection of Erica’s archival material was acquired by Columbia University’s Rare Book & Manuscript Library, where it will be available to graduate and undergraduate students. Ms. Jong plans to teach master classes at Columbia and also advise the Rare Book Library on the acquisition of other women writers’ archives.
Calling herself “a defrocked academic,” Ms. Jong has partly returned to her roots as a scholar. She has taught at Ben Gurion University in Israel, Bennington College in the US, Breadloaf Writers’ Conference in Vermont and many other distinguished writing programs and universities. She loves to teach and lecture, though her skill in these areas has sometimes crowded her writing projects. “As long as I am communicating the gift of literature, I’m happy,” Jong says. A poet at heart, Ms. Jong believes that words can save the world.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 18, 2023
I have no idea where the four CDs of In Their Own Voices came from, but I found them when I was cleaning out some drawers recently. It is National Poetry Month, I thought.
So I listened to this collection yesterday when I was driving.
And what do I think? I think it's wonderful to hear poets reading their own poetry. If you haven't heard it, I urge you to find a way to listen to Dylan Thomas read his poem, "Do Not Go Gentle." Beautiful.
On the other hand, I was shocked to hear Langston Hughes' poem, "Mulatto." I know it's a poem of its time, that it was written by a Black man, that it is based on Hughes' own experiences with racism---but, nevertheless, it's hard to hear.
Robert Frost. E. E. Cummings. Theodore Roethke. Wallace Stevens. William Carlos Williams. Langston Hughes. Lots of my favorites here.
Poetry (my opinion) is best when listened to.
So I listened to this collection yesterday when I was driving.
And what do I think? I think it's wonderful to hear poets reading their own poetry. If you haven't heard it, I urge you to find a way to listen to Dylan Thomas read his poem, "Do Not Go Gentle." Beautiful.
On the other hand, I was shocked to hear Langston Hughes' poem, "Mulatto." I know it's a poem of its time, that it was written by a Black man, that it is based on Hughes' own experiences with racism---but, nevertheless, it's hard to hear.
Robert Frost. E. E. Cummings. Theodore Roethke. Wallace Stevens. William Carlos Williams. Langston Hughes. Lots of my favorites here.
Poetry (my opinion) is best when listened to.
February 1, 2024
My library only owns discs 3 and 4, so this review pertains to those. It's wonderful to hear some of my favorite poets (and new favorites) bring their work to life. I was pleasantly surprised by some of the musical accompaniments!
March 6, 2016
This isn't an entity in itself, of course. It is simply a good collection of poems read by their authors to listen to as desired. Typically for me, I listened to these in order, even tho' it took me a year or so to get it done, but almost certainly won't do that again. I was very surprised at how disappointing a poem read by its originator can be. Some are great--and the old ones are exciting simply because of how old they are. And if you are in the mood to hear declamation of the earlier poems (which can be fun--the Isle of Innisfree--great stuff!) or stilted 'poetry reading' intoning of some of the newer ones, it's all here. I have always loved poetry for the sound as well as for the meaning, and some of these poets, in my humble opinion, do not do justice to their works. "Do not go gentle into that goodnight" made me want to yell "Stop" and explain to Mr. Thomas that the poem had plenty of beauty in itself--it is smothered by his overwrought declaiming.
The other aspect that's really brought home is how a project like this is so susceptible to freezing a moment in time. The historical readings are historical, but the more recent ones, with a very heavy emphasis on Latino and Native American writers, are highly indicative of the decade of the eighties/nineties during which this collection must have been compiled. Nothing wrong with the selection--just not the same as it would be today.
Having said all that, this is quite a treasure. The book is a pretty thing, which I have not read cover to cover. And if you play the CDs on an online device, you can look up many of the poems to read along as you listen.
The other aspect that's really brought home is how a project like this is so susceptible to freezing a moment in time. The historical readings are historical, but the more recent ones, with a very heavy emphasis on Latino and Native American writers, are highly indicative of the decade of the eighties/nineties during which this collection must have been compiled. Nothing wrong with the selection--just not the same as it would be today.
Having said all that, this is quite a treasure. The book is a pretty thing, which I have not read cover to cover. And if you play the CDs on an online device, you can look up many of the poems to read along as you listen.
February 4, 2010
Awsome!!!
September 30, 2014
(I own just the first two discs in this four-disc collection, so this rating refers only to them.)
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews