Al Young: California's Poet Laureate

Recorded Live: Sunday, Sept. 7, 2008, 9:30 am PST

G U E S T :

• Al Young,
  California's Poet Laureate and author of Jazz Idiom: Blueprints, Frames and Stills

Moderated by : The Very Rev. Alan Jones,
Dean of Grace Cathedral

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About the Program:

A recognized poet, novelist, essayist and screenwriter Al Young is California’s Poet Laureate; a position he was named to in May 2005 by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Mr. Young took to writing poetry, as he describes it in one poem, "to make out the sound of my own background music." Though he has lived in California for decades he was raised on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast and in urban, industrial Detroit. Mr. Young graduated with honors and obtained his Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1969.

A multi-faceted author, Mr. Young’s many books include novels, collections of poetry, essays, memoirs, and anthologies. In the 1970s, he wrote film scripts for producer Joseph Strick, Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby, and Richard Pryor. His work has earned him numerous awards, been translated into multiple languages, and published in a wide range of publications. His latest book is entitled Jazz Idiom: Blueprints, Frames and Stills (The Jazz Photography of Charles L. Robinson with Text and Riffs by Al Young).