Department of English
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
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
Published 14 June 2023
Archive work by Aidan Castro, fall 2018
Recorded May 1990 at the Wild Blue Yonder nightclub
Published 25 January 2023
Archive work by Aidan Castro, fall 2018
Recorded March 1986 inside Conley Art Auditorium (CA 101) at Fresno State
Published 26 July 2022
Archive work by Rodolfo Avelar, fall 2018
Recorded August 1985 at the Wild Blue Yonder nightclub
Published 22 June 2022
Archive work by Aidan Castro, fall 2018
Season Three — 2019
Recorded February 1989 at the Wild Blue Yonder nightclub
Published 20 December 2019
Archive work by Mary Yamanaka, spring 2018
Recorded October 1991 inside the Bonner Auditorium at the Fresno Art Museum
Published 17 December 2019
Archive work by Mariah Bosch, spring 2018
Recorded August 1990 at the Fresno Metropolitan Museum
Published 12 December 2019
Archive work by Mary Yamanaka, spring 2018
Recorded in the spring of 1985 inside the Wild Blue Yonder nightclub
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
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
Published 26 September 2018
Archive work by Kirk Alvaro Lua, fall 2017
Recorded fall 1985 at the Wild Blue Yonder nightclub
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
Published 5 December 2017
Archive work by Marisa Mata, fall 2017
Recorded 2001 inside Bonner Auditorium at the Fresno Art Museum
Published 6 November 2017
Archive work by Ernesto Reyes, fall 2017
Recorded November 1990 at the Fresno Metropolitan Museum
Published 10 October 2017
Archive work by Marisa Mata, spring 2017
Recorded October 1984
Published 5 September 2017
Archive work by Marisa Mata, spring 2017
Recorded December 1988 in the KFCF 88.1 FM studio
Published 7 August 2017
Archive work by Naomi Carrillo, fall 2016
Recorded August 1984 at the Wild Blue Yonder nightclub
Published 11 July 2017
Archive work by Makenna Huffman, fall 2016
Recorded February 1986 inside Conley Art Auditorium (CA 101) at Fresno State
Published 5 June 2017
Archive work by Mayra Cano, fall 2016
Recorded November 1989 at the Fresno Metropolitan Museum
Published 8 May 2017
Archive work by Naomi Carrillo, fall 2016
Recorded March 1992
Published 3 April 2017
Archive work by Mayra Cano, fall 2016
Recorded November 1991 at the Fresno Art Museum
Published 3 March 2017
Archive work by Makenna Huffman, fall 2016