Focusing on the beat poetry scene of the late Fifties, this film poem celebrates a colorful generation of American poets, featuring interviews with Stuart Perkoff, Aya, Jack Hirschman, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Allen Ginsberg, who read their poems and discuss what it means to be a poet in America.

Hosted by Cheech Marin, this documentary examines the work of several Hispanic- American writers and how their poems, short stories and novels reflect what it means and what it's like to grow up Hispanic in America.

Chronicles the life and literary career of a major black American poet, Dudley Randall, who has published six books of poetry and edited several anthologies of black poetry.

Portrays the day-long Bloomsday celebration, when James Joyce devotees annually recreate and relive, through role-playing and readings, the famous odyssey of Leopold Bloom around Dublin on June 16th, 1904, as immortalized in Joyce's classic novel, Ulysses.

Set against a background of farming, saw-milling and moonshining activities in rural Kentucky during the Depression, this short film dramatizes the use of violence as a socially accepted form of "folk justice."

This video portrait of Chinua Achebe, one of Africa's greatest living authors, examines how the Nigerian-born writer-and modern Africa itself-were shaped by a history of racism and colonialism.

Portrays the life and career of this Italian husband and wife duo of actors and playwrights, who are best known for their satirical and politically radical theater presentations.

This compelling docu-drama chronicles the lives of Klaus and Erika Mann, played out against the tumultuous history of the Roaring Twenties, the rise of Fascism and WWII.

When a filmmaker accompanies a celebrated, openly gay poet on one of his many trips to Nepal - where he is revered for his philanthropy and generosity towards young men - she discovers all is not what it seems. A thought-provoking documentary about exploitation, sexual tourism and the developing world.

Profiles the life and work of lesbian novelist, essayist, teacher and political activist Jane Rule.

This eleven-part series provides an intimate look at writers, writing and the creative process.

This episode looks at Agha Shahid Ali who is a poet whose books include The Half-Inch Himalayas, A Walk through the Yellow Pages, A Nostalgist's Map of America, The Beloved Witness: Selected Poems and The Country Without a Post Office.

This episode features Dara Wier who has written five books of poems, including The Book of Knowledge (1988), All You Have in Common (1984), The 8-Step Grapevine (1980), Blood Hook & Eye (1977), Blue for the Plough (1992) and Our Master Plan (1998).

This episode features James Tate who is a Pulitzer Prize winning poet and the author of Selected Poems (1991), The Lost Pilot (1967), The Oblivion Ha-Ha (1970), Hints to Pilgrims (1971), Absences (1972), Constant Defender (1983), Reckoner (1986), Distance from Loved Ones (1990) and Shroud of the Gnome (1997).

This episode features Jay Neugeboren who has written stories and articles for numerous magazines including The Atlantic, Esquire, Ploughshares, The American Scholar, and Tri-Quarterly, and has contributed to over two dozen anthologies, including The Best American Short Stories and Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards.

This episode features John Edgar Wideman who is the author of Sent For You Yesterday, Brothers and Keepers, Philadelphia Fire, A Glance Away, Hurry Home, The Lynchers, Hiding Place, Damballah, Homewood Trilogy, Fever, The Stories of John Edgar Wideman, The Homewood Books and Cattle Killing.

This episode looks at Julius Lester, who is the author of fiction, nonfiction and numerous works for children. His books include From Slave Ship to Freedom Road, John Henry, Sam and the Tigers: A Retelling of Little Black Sambo, And All Our Wounds Forgiven, and The Tales of Uncle Remus: The Adventures of Brer Rabbit.

This episode looks at Martin Espada who is a poet, whose books include City of Coughing and Dead Radiators, The Immigrant Iceboy's Bolero, and Imagine the Angels of Bread, which won the American Book Award in 1997.

This episode looks at Noy Holland who is a short story writer whose first book, The Spectacle of the Body, was published by Knopf in 1994.

This episode features Patricia Wright who is the editor and contributor to the award-winning UMass Magazine, the alumni quarterly at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

This episode looks at Paul Mariani who is a biographer, poet, essayist, and critic. He has written acclaimed biographies of Robert Lowell, John Berryman and William Carlos Williams and is the author of A Commentary on the Complete Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins..

This episode features Sona Nieto who is a nationally recognized leader in multicultural education and is the author of Affirming Diversity: The Sociopolitical Context of Multicultural Education and The Light in Their Eyes: Creating Multicultural Learning Communities.

This musical biography is a documentary-style recreation of the life of Thomas Moore (1779-1852), Ireland's greatest national lyric poet, whose melodies and poems were revered throughout 19th-century Europe.

This video memoir of one of the most talented and fascinating writers of the 20th century features rare archival footage and photos, plus interviews with Hemingway's son, Jack, as well as numerous friends and associates, and Hemingway biographers and scholars.

This documentary examines the life and work of the Dublin born writer, Bram Stoker (1847-1912), who is best known as the author of the classic horror novel, Dracula.

This video profiles five contemporary American performance poets who have taken their poetry and its celebration of language and creative expression into new public venues.

This video tells the story of Joyce’s epic novel, Ulysses, his most famous creation and certainly the most renowned work of fiction of the twentieth century.

Novelist Jane Rule's discussions of the craft and her philosophy of writing are blended with readings from Rule's novels and stories and an interview with Smith College professor Marilyn Schuster, who discusses plot, characterization and other aspects of fiction, moral statements in literature, and issues of freedom of expression and censorship.

This biographical video tells the story of John McCrae, a Canadian army physician in WWI. Shaken by the experience of having to pick up for burial the body parts of a best friend, the victim of a direct hit from a German shell, McCrae later wrote "In Flanders Fields," one of the most famous anti-war poems of all time, while looking out over the grave.

This entertaining documentary features a variety of African-American poets from all over America, who have gathered to perform at Kafe Kuumba in Indianapolis, a local cultural center sponsored by the Midtown Writers Association.

Examines the history of this famous organization founded in Mexico City in 1934. The League, whose founding members included painters such as Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros, included artists from various disciplines, all of whom shared a commitment to the fusion of art and politics.

This docudrama portrays the life and work of the great Puerto Rican poet, from her impoverished childhood in Puerto Rico, to her political involvement as a young woman in the nationalist movement, to her subsequent exile in Cuba and New York where she died in 1953.

This biographical profile of M.F.K. Fisher (1908-1992) features intimate conversations with the American author and imaginatively visualized excerpts from her writings. In wide-ranging conversations filmed shortly before her death, Fisher speaks about her abilities and views on writing and publishing, family and childhood memories, romance and marriage, aging, and the pleasures of the flesh.

Profiles the life and work of one of the world's greatest contemporary novelists, who in 1990 campaigned unsuccessfully for the Presidency of Peru.

This provocative and emotionally unsettling video examines the realities behind the myth of the Marquis de Sade (1740-1814), the French author who, charged with numerous sexual offenses, spent half of his adult life in prisons or asylums.

This video profiles artists throughout the world, especially those working outside mainstream culture, who have committed their lives to opposing war and barbarism through their art.

A young novelist, suffering from a bad case of writer's block, and on the verge of blowing a fuse, discovers a shocking new means of artistic inspiration.

Based on a play by Puerto Rican playwright Rene marques, this video potrays the migration of a Puerto Rican family from the countryside to the San Juan ghetto and then to New York's Spanish Harlem.

Examines the life and work of the Nobel Prize-winning poet. In an interview conducted shortly before his death, Neruda discusses his worldview and explains his writing methods. This discussion is intercut with readings from Neruda's poems and commentary tracing the development of his poetic vision.

Narrated by Academy Award winning actor Chris Cooper, Primo Levi's Journey is a picaresque road trip through history.

An exploration of exile, memory and democracy through the words and recollections of playwright/author/activist Ariel Dorfman ("Death and the Maiden"), a member of Salvador Allende's socialist government and witness to the violent coup that ushered in Pinochet's reign. From the director of Shake Hands with the Devil.

This video features poet Marc Levy, a Vietnam veteran who served in 1970 as a fighting medic in the U.S. First Cavalry Division, who reads poetic prose based on his combat and postwar experiences.

Profiles one of the world's most successful writers, from his birth in Mississippi 1908 to poor sharecropper parents, his overcoming of segregation, racism and limited educational facilities, his rise to the top of the literary world with critically acclaimed works such as Native Son and Black Boy, and his mysterious demise.

Chinese journalist Liu Binyan sought out the truth his entire life and consequently paid a huge price for his honesty. Named one of Time Magazine's Asian Heroes, this film documents his incredible story and struggle to build a freer China.

A high school teacher and one of his students don Elizabethan garb and travel back in time to London in 1609 to have lunch with William Shakespeare at the Mermaid Tavern.

Examines the role of black resistance to apartheid in South Africa through a look at two of the nation's leading cultural activists and popular performers--poet Mzwakhe Mbuli and writer/ performer Gcina Mhlophe.

Celebrates the traditional art of storytelling through profiles of three storytellers--Judith Black, whose stories explore the Jewish immigrant experience; Michael Cotter, a Minnesota farmer whose stories focus on the extraordinary qualities of ordinary people; and Rex Ellis, whose stories deal with the historical period of enslavement of African Americans.

A magical portrait of Russia's revolutionary artistic avant-garde - Mayakovsky, Voloshin, Blok, Malevich, Tatlin - through the life of Sonia Dymshitz-Tolstaya, an impassioned artist whose life reflected the social upheavals of her time. She was one of the few Jewish women who became part of this inner circle.

Traces the history of surrealism, the art movement that derived its inspiration from dreams and other illogical and fantastic expressions of the unconscious mind, featuring archival footage and photos, interviews with scholars, historians and biographers, dramatic reenactments of key moments in the development of surrealism and excerpts from contemporary surrealist films.

Featuring poetry performances that often resemble contemporary rap, this film examines an important aspect of Afro-Caribbean cultural heritage.

This portrait of Margaret Randall—activist, poet, writer, teacher and photographer—comes at a particularly appropriate time, as patriotism is being equated in some quarters with keeping silent about important issues.

Examines the life of the celebrated author of Being There and The Painted Bird, darling of the New York literary scene and Hollywood gadfly.

Don Quixote, Les Misérables, One Hundred Years of Solitude. The practice of reading classic works of literature to workers at Cuban cigar factories dates back to the mid-1800s. With a Stroke of the Chaveta explores this rich tradition and how it's influenced cultural and political thought in Cuba.

This fairy-tale-like drama, based on a 1904 short story by American poet and feminist author Rene Vivien, tells two opposing versions of the same narrative: one told verbally by Pierre Lenoir, a male narrator at a Victorian dinner party; the other told visually through the behavior of a woman who meets him on a fantasy cargo boat.