Poets & Writers Theater

In celebration of Walt Whitman’s bicentennial birthday on May 31 of 2019, Brooklyn residents—including Mahogany L. Browne, Jason Koo, Gregory Pardlo, Ben Purkert, and Brooklyn poet laureate Tina Chang—recite his 1856 poem “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” from Leaves of Grass in various neighborhoods and libraries throughout the borough. This video was produced by the Brooklyn Public Library.

“For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.” In this moving video series, filmmaker Jennifer Crandall travels throughout Alabama to capture local residents reading the verses of Walt Whitman’s iconic 1855 poem “Song of Myself.”

In this TED-Ed “poetic experiment,” three different animators interpret Walt Whitman's poem “A Noiseless Patient Spider” read by poets Mahogany Browne, Joanna Hoffman, and Rives.

This video, animated by Sophie Koko Gate, features an excerpt from the poem “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman, and is narrated by Peter Blegvad. Produced for Harvard University's Fundamentals of Neuroscience course, the Poetry of Perception animated series looks to poetry to explain sensory perceptions.

In this clip, from the satellite-radio show Theme Time Radio Hour, Bob Dylan reads Walt Whitman's poem "I Hear America Singing." Here's to a happy, healthy, creative, and inspired Independence Day!

A senior at Mead High School in Spokane, Washington, Langston Ward won the title of 2013 Poetry Out Loud National Champion at the National Finals held in Washington, D.C., on April 30. He received twenty thousand dollars; his high school received five hundred dollars for the purchase of poetry books. In this video, Ward recites "A March in the Ranks Hard-Prest, and the Road Unknown" by Walt Whitman.

Created by YouTube user JankAround, this mashup of Walt Whitman’s poem “Pioneers! O Pioneers!” and footage as well as NASA animation of space exploration pays homage to the late Neil Armstrong.