Uncollected Recordings

‘The Elegiac World in Victorian Poetry’, 1962 BBC lecture, the text later published in The Listener (14 February 1963): 290–91.
– [no recording yet known to exist].

Audio recording of ‘On Maximus IV, V, VI’, lecture given at Simon Fraser University on 27 July 1971, later transcribed by Tom McGauley and published in Serious Iron [Iron, 2] (October 1971; Vancouver): [n.p.]. Reprinted with brief comment from the transcriber, Tom McGauley, in Minutes of the Charles Olson Society, 28 (April 1999): 3–13.
– in Special Collections at Simon Fraser University, according to Tom McGauley’s note accompanying his lecture transcription in Minutes of the Charles Olson Society, 28.

‘JHP 5-iv-1995’. Audio recording (mp3) of Prynne’s talk at the Tate Gallery, London, on 5 May 1995, the revised text of which was later published as ‘A Discourse on Willem de Kooning’s Rosy-Fingered Dawn at Louse Point; Given at the de Kooning Symposium, Tate Gallery, London, Friday 5 May 1995’ [in act [art, criticism and theory], 2 (1996): 34–73]. (48.04 min.). Recorded by Ben Watson. Online at https://archive.org/details/jhp5-v-1995 [uploaded 27 February 2016; note that the date of the lecture is correct in the web address though incorrect in the file name and description]. Prynne’s talk cuts off at [25.45] (perhaps five minutes prior to the end of the talk); then from [25.45–47.30] Prynne responds to questions from the audience (though the recording again cuts off just prior to the end).

Audio interview with Joe Richey, 17 December 1999, following Edward Dorn’s memorial and the reception at the University of Colorado’s British Studies room at Norlin Library. (9.56 min.) Later transcribed, lightly edited, and published as ‘Afterword’, in Edward Dorn, Collected Poems, ed. Jennifer Dunbar Dorn with Justin Katko, Reitha Pattison and Kyle Waugh (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 2012): 938–41.

‘Poetry and Language’ lecture series, University of Cambridge, 25 February 2003
– quoted in Keston Sutherland, ‘XL Prynne’, in A Manner of Utterance: The Poetry of J.H. Prynne, ed. Ian Brinton (Exeter: Shearsman Books, 2009): 130n52; and Keston Sutherland, J.H. Prynne and Philology (Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Cambridge University, 2004): 148, 211–12 [here regarding Lecture II, 22 October 2002]. [Private audio recordings of seven lectures in the series and one excerpt of an eighth have been verified]. Out To Lunch [Ben Watson], in ‘Garbage: A Discussion of Value’. Pores, 1 (October 2001): [note 13, approx. p. 15], online at http://www.pores.bbk.ac.uk/1/index.html [approx. pp. 16], mentions Prynne’s ‘Poetry & Language’ series of lectures in 1976, in which ‘Prynne discussed Jorn and his “triolectics”, an attempt to think beyond a (regrettably Stalinised) concept of dialectics – thesis, antithesis and synthesis – towards triple-concept clusters (a less prolix version of some of Deleuze’s proposals).’ It is not clear how much the lectures mentioned by Watson and the lectures quoted by Sutherland have in common.

Voiceover materials for a student production created by Chris Goode in 1993
– mentioned in Chris Goode, ‘Boob News’. Thompson’s Bank of Communicable Desire, (20 January 2010), online at http://beescope.blogspot.com [approx. pp. 5].

Unpublished audio recording of Prynne’s Seminar on Translation, Queen Mary University, 19th January 2008
– cited in Dominic Lash, Metonymy as a Creative Structural Principle in the Work of J.H. Prynne, Derek Bailey and Helmut Lachenmann, with a Creative Component (Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, School of Arts, Brunel University, June 2010). Thesis online at https://www.academia.edu/808999/Metonymy_as_a_creative_structural_principle_in_the_work_of_JH_Prynne_Derek_Bailey_and_Helmut_Lachenmann_with_a_creative_component.

‘Prynne Reads Wordsworth and S. T. C.’ Audio CD; informal student recording of Prynne reading William Wordsworth, ‘Lines[,] Written a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, On Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour, July 13, 1798’ and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, ‘Frost at Midnight’.
– in the library of the English Poetry Studies Institute, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, P.R. China.

Unauthorised audio recording of ‘Mental Ears and Poetic Work’ lecture (University of Chicago, April 2009), online at http://nyotaimori-faceplant.blogspot.com/ (‘Prynne’s Mental Ears and Poetic Work’ post, 24 April 2009). [approx. 1 hour]. Since superseded by the unauthorised video recording of the lecture at the University of Chicago, online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjM8SruqTdo, and also at http://news.uchicago.edu/multimedia/poetry-lecture-jh-prynne.

Video recording of Prynne after a talk in P.R. China, uploaded 2011, discussing Chinese poetry with audience members while preparing to leave the seminar room. (2.10 min.). Online at http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjM3NjUyNzk2.html.

Audio recording of an informal talk by Prynne on the day’s topic, ‘The Sense of Nativeness, Cultural Awareness and Cultural Identity’, and on his own topic, ‘Can a poet in these times be a citizen of the world, and, if so, of what world?’, as part of The Third National Conference on English Poetry Studies, in Guangzhou, P.R. China, 20 December 2012. (32.45 min.). Recorded by Justin Katko.

Audio recording of the discussion period following the above talk in Guangzhou, P.R. China, 20 December 2012. (17.50 min.). Recorded by Justin Katko. Includes Prynne’s responses to audience questions, at [0.55–1.50]; [3.30–4.35]; [11.00–13.05]; [13.40–15.05]; and [17.00–17.35].

Audio recording of a panel discussion on J.H. Prynne, part of the The Third National Conference on English Poetry Studies, in Shenzhen, P.R. China, 21 December 2012. (1 hour 29 min. 30 sec.). Recorded by Justin Katko. This panel discussion includes Prynne’s lecture ‘Fragrance and Anger in Milton’s Paradise Lost’ [a transcription of which was later modified by the author, edited by Li Zhimin, and published in Epsians, Vol. 3 No. 1 (March 2013): 1–11] [2.55–25.50]; a lecture by Justin Katko on J.H. Prynne, [as E.W.D., pseud.], ‘Beans out – but they’re likely to come back in!’ [unpublished xerox of typescript with newspaper collage and handwritten address, 20 April [1972], in Box 44, Folder 657, Edward Dorn Papers, Archives & Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, University of Connecticut Libraries] [27.50–58.00]; Chen Shangzhen’s lecture in English and in Chinese on originality in poetry [59.40–1.12.00]; Prynne’s discussion of Milton, the creation of the universe, and originary language [1.12.40–1.17.00]; [?]’s discussion of the question of readership in original poetry, the freedom of the reader’s imagination in interpreting difficult poems, and the breaking of the limits of the English language [1.17.00–1.25.00]; Prynne’s discussion of creating ‘Beans out – but they’re likely to come back in!’ [1.25.00–1.26.15]; another response to Katko’s lecture [1.26.15–1.27.25]; and Prynne’s response to that, discussing his and Edward Dorn’s views of scientific and philosophic discourse [1.27.25–1.29.05]].

‘Prynne Symposium’. Audio recording (mp3) of the final Q&A session, as well as Prynne’s closing remarks, at the symposium on the recent poetry of J.H. Prynne held at the University of Sussex, 13 February 2013 (uploaded 9 October 2015). (55.12 min.). Recorded by Verity Spott. Previously online at https://soundcloud.com/verityspott/prynne-symposium. Prynne’s remarks at [7.20–7.30]; [20.35–22.25]; [24.00–24.05]; and [29.10–54.55]. [The final Q&A session follows the talk by Keston Sutherland on J.H. Prynne, Sub  Songs and the talk by Neil Pattison on J.H. Prynne, Kazoo Dreamboats; or, On What There Is. The revised symposium papers were published as Hix Eros, 4 (September 2014/print edition April 2015: On the Late Poetry of J.H. Prynne; eds. Joe Luna and Jow Lindsay Walton), though note that none of the Q&A comments or Prynne’s closing remarks are included in that volume, nor are Robert Smith’s talk on Red D Gypsum, Robin Purves’s talk on Streak~~~Willing~~~Entourage / ‘Artesian’, and Neil Pattison’s talk on Kazoo Dreamboats; or, On What There Is].

Audio recording of an extemporised comment following Peter Larkin’s reading at the inaugural event of the UnAmerican Activities reading series, 12 May 2013. (5.16 min.). Recorded by Ian Heames. A transcription of this recording, lightly edited by Prynne, was later published as ‘On Peter Larkin’. No Prizes, 2 (June 2013): 43–45. [Larkin read at the Judith E. Wilson Drama Studio in Cambridge, U.K., following Lanny Jordan Jackson’s reading at the Page Poetry Parlor in New York City. The venues were connected by live audiovisual link. Prynne spoke from amongst the Cambridge audience].

Video recording of a brief appearance by Prynne on the television show Celebrity Masterchef UK (2013), Series 8 Episode 14, which aired on BBC One on Thursday 29 August 2013 at 8 pm GMT. [According to the BBC website, ‘The semi-finals continue as the celebrities are given their most daunting challenge yet and are thrown into the world of mass catering on an impressive scale. Gonville and Caius is the fourth oldest college in Cambridge University, and 150 students, parents and fellows will be attending the prestigious end of term dinner. Working in pairs, the celebrities are responsible for providing a three course dinner of the finest standard to befit the surroundings and the occasion whilst working quickly to get their dishes out on time.’ Prynne may be glimpsed eating a woodpigeon salad made by Les Dennis and by Shane from Boyzone].

‘Objective infinity?’, a video recording of J.H. Prynne responding to a talk by Keston Sutherland on ‘Poetry and Subjective Infinity’ at the Critical Poetics Seminars at the University of Sussex (uploaded 31 March 2014). (12.57 min.). Recorded by Inedit Films. Online at https://vimeo.com/90546839 [Prynne’s question for Sutherland regarding infinity in Hegel’s work at [0.00–3.10], followed by Sutherland’s response. Sutherland’s lecture on ‘Poetry and Subjective Infinity’ is online at https://vimeo.com/91328990 (1 hour 6 min. 42 sec.)].

‘“The Listeners” (Walter de la Mare) read by J.H. Prynne’. Video recording of Prynne reading de la Mare’s poem on the set of the 2014 CCTV (China Central Television) Star of Outlook English Talent Competition in Beijing, P.R. China (uploaded 3 August 2014). (3.16 min.). Recorded by Justin Katko in July 2014. Online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EElmR6Ho0e0. [Prynne appeared as a senior judge on a competition show in which university places were awarded as prizes. The poetry reading was Prynne’s idea, and not part of the planned schedule. It may not have been used in the final cut of the broadcast show].

‘2014“希望之星”英语风采大赛’ [= ‘2014 CCTV English Talent Competition National Champion (Star of Outlook)’]. Video recording of the 2014 CCTV (China Central Television) Star of Outlook English Talent Competition in Beijing, P.R. China. (52 min. 38 sec.). Recorded by CCTV’s Science and Education Channel in July 2014, broadcast on CCTV 21 August 2014. Online at CCTV’s internet-based broadcaster, China Network Television (CNTV), at http://tv.cntv.cn/video/VSET100202690985/64e2b5a1fb03459cb06bf0489d867348. [Prynne appeared as a senior judge on a competition show in which university places were awarded as prizes. According to Andy Houwen’s helpful play-by-play commentary (in the Facebook group The Starry Bun: The J. H. Prynne appreciation society, 14 May 2020), at 1 min. 40 sec. Prynne is introduced and brandishes a Chinese fan; at 13 min. 45 sec. he rejects a magician from Xinjiang from going to Cambridge; at 29 min. he does the same to a woman from the northeast; and, perhaps most memorably, when a female rapper from Chongqing (during whose rap performance Prynne refuses to join in with the dancing at 32 min. 33 sec. and at 33 min. 5 sec.) says everyone’s first choice for a country in which to study is America because ‘American schools like Harvard and Stanford are always on the top of every list’, and someone from the University of Wollongong tells her that rankings don’t matter, Prynne starts laughing and rejects her too (at 43 min. 20 sec.). So it appears that Prynne declined all the show’s contestants a place at Cambridge University].