THE POETS

JOHN S. HALL is a pioneer of the new Spoken Word Movement. He has toured individually, with band (currently "King Missile III") for MTV, and as a furniture mover. He has released eight albums and had a #1 hit on college radio with the indefensible "Detachable Penis."

When Nobel Prize-winning poet JOSEPH BRODSKY was US Poet Laureate, he suggested that an anthology of poetry be placed in every hotel room, right next to Gideon's Bible. The Bible, he remarked, could stand the competition -- and the astonishing American Poetry Literacy Project was hauled into being. Exiled from Russia in 1972, his was a voice of wandering loss and the search for freedom. Don't be fooled by the seeming lightness of "A Song" in our series. Author of ten books, he died on January 28, 1996, at the age 55.

Who is that elegant creature in the fancy chapeau and heels, strolling down Fifth Avenue to introduce us to "Love"? Internationally renowned LYPSINKA, that's who! Here she mouths the lyrics of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, as originally voiced by Jayne Mansfield.

LOU REED's poem, "Romeo Had Juliette," can be found on his quintessential rock portrait: New York. He is the Man who not only walks on the wild side but wrote the song about it. His most recent record is Perfect Night; from the Velvet Underground till now, no one has done more for the poetic beat than Lou.

Professor, poet, biographer (of Miles Davis), anthologist, QUINCY TROUPE is one of our country's finest jazz poets. Son of a catcher in the Negro Leagues, currently head of the Writing Department at University of California at San Diego, he appears in USOP with his wife Margaret, who is also a poet, and a stand-in for their son Porter, who outgrew the part.

Surely MAGGIE ESTEP had more of a reason to become a poet than simply "I get to say cheese a lot." But, alas, that is what she says. Her poems slide slyly into rock'n'roll, her intelligent takes give good beat, and attitude! With two albums off of Mouth Almighty Records and two novels, she's a renaissance kind of girl.

PEARL CLEAGE is considered the Poet Laureate of Atlanta. She is part of a new movement of African American women writers who speaks direct and carries a big agenda, rooted in the things of life, not rhetoric. Author of five books, she was filmed for USOP with her husband, playwright Zaron Burnet on their honeymoon in Memphis.

A native of Sri Lanka, INDRAN AMIRTHANAYAGAM is following in his father's footsteps by being both a poet and a member of the US foreign service: he is currently on assignment to Belgium.