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Department of English

Screen shot of Larry Levis at microphone.

Fresno Poets Archive Project

For nearly 40 years, the Fresno Poets’ Association reading series has attracted hundreds of poets and prose writers of all kinds to Fresno for world-class literary readings in Central California. Some of the earliest readings in the 1980s and ’90s not only featured the best of the best Fresno poets and writers but also some of the most renowned national and international authors of their day.

In 2016, poets C. G. Hanzlicek and Corrinne Hales made a generous donation to the Creative Writing Program: They granted access to nearly 80 VHS, Beta, and reel-to-reel recordings of the earliest FPA readings. Most of these aging tapes have since been rescued and brought into the digital age by the staff at Horn Photo, with funding from the College of Arts and Humanities. Additional recordings continue to surface.

Episodes

Communications staff Jefferson Beavers continues to work with undergraduate creative writing interns, with the support of English faculty Ruth Jenkins and Samina Najmi, to make these recordings accessible on the Fresno State MFA YouTube channel. Each recording is fully closed captioned as accurately as possible, and it is accompanied by a blog post written by the intern for historical and personal context.


Season Five — 2023-24

Coming soon!

Recorded 9 September 1993 inside Bonner Auditorium at the Fresno Art Museum

Watch Episode 23

Read More about Episode 23

Published 14 August 2023

Archive work by Marisa Mata, spring 2019

Season Four — 2022-23

Recorded 6 February 1992 inside Bonner Auditorium at the Fresno Art Museum

Watch Episode 22

Read More about Episode 22

Published 14 June 2023

Archive work by Aidan Castro, fall 2018

Recorded May 1990 at the Wild Blue Yonder nightclub

Watch Episode 21

Read More about Episode 21

Published 25 January 2023

Archive work by Aidan Castro, fall 2018

Recorded March 1986 inside Conley Art Auditorium (CA 101) at Fresno State

Watch Episode 20

Read More about Episode 20

Published 26 July 2022

Archive work by Rodolfo Avelar, fall 2018

Recorded August 1985 at the Wild Blue Yonder nightclub

Watch Episode 19

Read More about Episode 19

Published 22 June 2022

Archive work by Aidan Castro, fall 2018

Season Three — 2019

Recorded February 1989 at the Wild Blue Yonder nightclub

Watch Episode 18

Read More about Episode 18

Published 20 December 2019

Archive work by Mary Yamanaka, spring 2018

Recorded October 1991 inside the Bonner Auditorium at the Fresno Art Museum

Watch Episode 17

Read More about Episode 17

Published 17 December 2019

Archive work by Mariah Bosch, spring 2018

Recorded August 1990 at the Fresno Metropolitan Museum

Video recording  |  Blog post

Published 12 December 2019

Archive work by Mary Yamanaka, spring 2018

Recorded in the spring of 1985 inside the Wild Blue Yonder nightclub

Video recording  |  Blog post

Published 1 October 2019

Archive work by Mariah Bosch, spring 2018

Season Two — 2018

Recorded December 1991 inside Bonner Auditorium at the Fresno Art Museum

Video recording  |  Blog post

Published 19 December 2018

Archive work by Marisa Mata, fall 2017

Recorded circa 1985 at the Wild Blue Yonder nightclub

Video recording  |  Michael Clifton Blog post

Published 23 October 2018

Archive work by Ernesto Reyes, fall 2017

Recorded November 2002 inside Alice Peters Auditorium (PB 191) at Fresno State

Video recording  |  Blog post

Published 26 September 2018

Archive work by Kirk Alvaro Lua, fall 2017

Recorded fall 1985 at the Wild Blue Yonder nightclub

Video recording  |  Blog post

Published 24 January 2018

Archive work by Marisa Mata, fall 2017

Season One — 2017

Recorded April 1992 inside Bonner Auditorium at the Fresno Art Museum

Video recording  |  Blog post

Published 5 December 2017

Archive work by Marisa Mata, fall 2017

Recorded 2001 inside Bonner Auditorium at the Fresno Art Museum

Video recording  |  Blog post

Published 6 November 2017

Archive work by Ernesto Reyes, fall 2017

Recorded November 1990 at the Fresno Metropolitan Museum

Video recording  |  Blog post

Published 10 October 2017

Archive work by Marisa Mata, spring 2017

Recorded October 1984

Video recording  |  Blog post

Published 5 September 2017

Archive work by Marisa Mata, spring 2017

Recorded December 1988 in the KFCF 88.1 FM studio

Video recording  |  Blog post

Published 7 August 2017

Archive work by Naomi Carrillo, fall 2016

Recorded August 1984 at the Wild Blue Yonder nightclub

Video recording  |  Blog post

Published 11 July 2017

Archive work by Makenna Huffman, fall 2016

Recorded February 1986 inside Conley Art Auditorium (CA 101) at Fresno State

Video recording  |  Blog post

Published 5 June 2017

Archive work by Mayra Cano, fall 2016

Recorded November 1989 at the Fresno Metropolitan Museum

Video recording  |  Blog post

Published 8 May 2017

Archive work by Naomi Carrillo, fall 2016

Recorded March 1992

Video recording  |  Blog post

Published 3 April 2017

Archive work by Mayra Cano, fall 2016 

Recorded November 1991 at the Fresno Art Museum

Video recording  |  Blog post

Published 3 March 2017

Archive work by Makenna Huffman, fall 2016