~ Nationality: United States ~
The Genius of the Crowd by Charles Bukowski
I’m not a big Charles Bukowski fan, but this is a well-done animation and deserves to be included. It was evidently a collaborative effort: Stefano Internullo, Lorenzo Miglietta, Emanuele Roccucci, Enrico Tanno, and Giacomo Tessitore are the names given in the credits, and they are all evidently from a Rome- and London-based design firm called Digital Bathroom. About this film, they say:
The concept was to make the same feeling of dirt, disullusione and inevitability of events in a short film. The pencil was chosen to give an intimate tone in the project.The video was made in a week, from concept to dvd, and the illustrations have this inherent urgency that makes the tract nervous.
The Long Street by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Paul May says, “A little super8 movie I shot in college. It’s based on the Ferlinghetti poem The Long Street.” The poem appeared in A Coney Island of the Mind, and may be read via Google Books here.
Zombie Haiku
Yes, zombie haiku. There’s even a book, and a website that includes zombie haiku submitted by various contemporary authors. The twisted genius behind all this is Ryan Mecum.
The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
The Simpsons read “The Raven” (with help from James Earl Jones) in the third episode of the show’s second season (1990), “Treehouse of Horror I.”
The Dead by Billy Collins
Billy Collins reads his poem “The Dead” with animation by Juan Delcan of Spontaneous.
Distance from Loved Ones by James Tate
A simple, down-to-earth performance of the James Tate poem by one Kungpowish.
Acquainted with the Night by Robert Frost
A noir-ish interpretation of Frost’s poem by Josh Contor, an undergraduate student at Brigham Young University.
Cartoon Physics, part 1 by Nick Flynn
Animation by Siobhan McAlpin of a poem by Nick Flynn. Part of the Poetry Foundation’s Poetry Everywhere series, but uploaded to Vimeo by the co-producers of the series: docUWM, “a documentary media center based in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Film Department that provides students the opportunity to work on professional productions and learn the art, craft and business of making media.” For poetry fans, this means that higher-quality versions of the Poetry Everywhere videopoem series than those at YouTube are now available for embedding.
Chopped Off Arm and Crumbs by Hal Sirowitz
American poet Hal Sirowitz is, according to an uncited assertion in the Wikipedia, the best-selling translated poet in Norway, thanks mainly to these and other animations by Sigrid Astrup. I think the Norwegian really adds an interesting dimension to the poems.
The Ghosts Listen to Orpheus Sing by Gregory Orr
Gregory Orr reads his poem for “an upcoming [in 2006] enhanced CD release entitled ‘Orpheus and Eurydice'” by Trey Gunn.
Ariel by Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath reads her poem in another video by the enigmatic mishima1970.
23rd Street Runs Into Heaven by Kenneth Patchen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLpCgttitwQ
Part 1 of a two-part homage to Kenneth Patchen (Part 2 is here) by Dekklun Cuinn (I think. Or at least uploaded by him). The reading is by the poet himself, recorded for Folkways Records. The text of the poem may be read here.
