About Maxine Kumin at the Library of Congress

Maxine Kumin served as the Library of Congress's twenty-fifth Consultant in Poetry from 1981-1982. The links below provide more information about her activities at the Library, including webcasts, recordings, and blog posts.

Biography of Maxine Kumin on the Library of Congress

Maxine Kumin served her term as U.S. Consultant in Poetry at the Library of Congress from 1981-1982. During her tenure, Kumin initiated a series of women's poetry lunchtime workshops. In each of these, a few Washington-area women poets joined Ms. Kumin in the Poetry Room for lunch and an informal discussion of the group's poems in progress. As a member of the Library's Council of Scholars, Kumin, participated in the symposium on creativity. Shortly after her term, a book of new and selected poems entitled Our Ground Time Here Will Be Brief and Kumin's first collection of short stories, Why Can't We Live Together Like Civilized Human Beings, were published.

Below is a recording of Maxine Kumin delivering her final lecture as Consultant in Poetry in the Coolidge Auditorium on May 4th, 1982.

Library of Congress blog posts about Maxine Kumin.

Maxine Kumin: “One Poet’s View of Social Change at the Library of Congress"
From the Catbird Seat. August 26, 2019
Happy Birthday, Maxine Kumin and Gwendolyn Brooks!
From the Catbird Seat. June 5, 2015
Remembering Our Laureates
From the Catbird Seat. December 31, 2014

The Library of Congress Archive of Recorded Poetry and Literature features several recordings and webcasts of Maxine Kumin reading her poetry.

Webcasts

A Celebration of American Poets Laureate
Some of the most distinguished voices in American poetry--seven former U.S. Poets Laureate/Consultants in Poetry--reunited in the historic Coolidge Auditorium of the Library of Congress for a night of poetry. The event marked publication of "The Poets Laureate Anthology," a volume which brings together for the first time in print a sampling of poems by all of the Poets Laureate. October 6, 2010. 1 hours 27 minutes 12 seconds.
Poetry Readings from Maxine Kumin and Wesley McNair
The Library of Congress 2006 Literary Season continued with poetry readings from poets Maxine Kumin and Wesley McNair, two New England poets, who through the magic of poems, style takes the listener on a joyful ride through non-urban America. October 9, 2006. 1 hour 15 minutes 5 seconds.

Recordings

Diane Ackerman and Maxine Kumin reading from their work
Recorded Mar. 24, 1994, in the Mumford Room at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.
Howard Nemerov memorial reading: Gwendolyn Brooks, Maxine Kumin, Alexander Nemerov, Reed Whittemore, in the Mumford Room, Oct. 29, 1991
Storm windows ; At the airport ; Consent ; Answering back ; To the Congress of the United States upon enering its third century ; By Al Lebowitz's pool, pt. 5 (read by Maxine Kumin) -- The map-maker on his art ; Writing ; The remorse for time ; Ozymandias ; Ozymandias II ; He grew up being curious (read by Gwendolyn Brooks) -- The life cycle of the common man ; A primer of the daily round ; The view from the attic window, pt. II ; The mud turtle (read by Reed Whittemore) -- September, the first day of school ; Big Red '79 ; The goosefish ; Elegy ; The end of the opera ; Trying conclusions (read by Alexander Nemerov).
Maxine Kumin reading from her poetry
Recorded Mar. 8, 1990, in the Mumford Room at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.
The poet and the mule Maxine Kumin delivering a lecture.
Poet Maxine Kumin speaks on the similarities between a poet and a mule. She explains how both are thinkers, specialists, and hybrids who endure much. Following her lecture, Ms. Kumin reads nine of her poems.1982.
Maxine Kumin reading from her work in the Coolidge Auditorium, Oct. 5, 1981
Ms. Kumin reads Another form of marriage and West from her short story collection entitled Why can't we live together like civilized human beings?; and one of her poems. John C. Broderick introduces Ms. Kumin.
Maxine Kumin, Consultant in Poetry, reading her poems in the Coolidge Auditorium, Jan. 26, 1981
Stamping a tiny foot against God some American women poets writing between the two wars : lecture.
Maxine Kumin speaks on the writings of American women poets during the 1920s and 1930s. Ms. Kumin discusses the influence of these poets on later generations of women poets and reads excerpts of poems by these women. 1981.
Alan Dugan and Maxine Kumin reading and discussing their poems in the Coolidge Auditorium, Oct. 21, 1974
In the course of the program, Ms. Kumin reads six poems from Up country; five poems from House, bridge, fountain, gate; and the poem Life's work. Mr. Dugan reads a short poem and a long poem "on riding the Long Island Railroad as a kid" and thirteen poems from Poem 4.

Maxine Kumin, Consultant in Poetry: A Resource Guide

General Inquiries: Ask a Librarian

About Maxine Kumin at the Library of Congress

Webcasts

Recordings