Poet Michael Harper reads from and discusses his writing. **Michael Harper** is the author of several collections, including *Images of Kin*, winner of the Melville-Cane Award from the Poetry Society of America and a National Book Award nominee; *History is Your Heartbeat*, winner of the Black Academy of Arts & Letters for Poetry; and *Dear John, Dear Coltrane*, nominated for the National Book Award. Harper grew up in Brooklyn in a family of storytellers where the blues and jazz were played, and much of his poetry, with its variations on a theme and its improvisational feel, reflects these influences.
He has published more than ten books of poetry, most recently *Selected Poems* (ARC Publications, 2002); *Songlines in Michaeltree: New and Collected Poems* (2000); *Honorable Amendments* (1995); and* Healing Song for the Inner Ear* (1985). His other collections include: *Images of Kin* (1977), which won the Melville-Cane Award from the Poetry Society of America and was nominated for the National Book Award; *History is Your Heartbea*t (1971), which won the Black Academy of Arts & Letters Award for poetry; and *Dear John, Dear Coltrane* (1970), which was nominated for the National Book Award. He was the first poet laureate of the State of Rhode Island from 1988 to 1993. Michael S. Harper is university professor and professor of English at Brown University, where he has taught since 1970. He lives in Barrington, Rhode Island.