Newly Restored: Pablo Neruda Reading at The 92nd Street Y in 1966

Thanks to BOMB's Paper Clip, we've come across Clocktower Radio's restoration and rebroadcast of Pablo Neruda reading at the 92nd Street Y in 1966, from the archives of Charles Ruas.

Neruda is joined by Martin Eshleman, Robert Bly, Ben Bellit, H. R. Hays, and James Wright, who translate his poems. At the beginning of the reading, Neruda thanks his American audience for greeting him with such warmth and support. This acknowledgment is notable based on the fact that his appearance was almost prevented by U.S. Authorities owing to the fact that he was a known communist. It was because of Lyndon Johnson's intervention that customs admitted him into the county.

Neruda reads some some of the poems from which he is most celebrated for, as well as some of his lesser known works. Some of these poems include: Ode with a Lament, Nothing but Death, Walking Around, The Head of a Pole, and Toussaint L’Ouverture. He speaks about love, death, socks, the liberation of Haiti, and the politics that his native Chile had been confronted with.

Socks! Listen to Neruda's reading now.