NEW YORK (AP) β Gloria Steinem, Nick Cannon and Holly Hunter were among the readers. Allen Ginsberg, Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou were among the poets they read.
The 13th annual “Poetry & and the Creative Mind” benefit was held Wednesday night at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center. With an eclectic group of celebrity readers drawn from various arts and other parts of the culture, the event helps celebrate National Poetry Month and raises money for the nonprofit Academy of American Poets. Guests ranged from Steinem and Cannon to musicians Sam Beam and Kris Kristofferson to former Miss America-turned entertainer Vanessa Williams.
Most of the readers simply read, but Beam threw in a song after reciting several William Stafford poems and Kristofferson went straight to music, his signature “Me and Bobby McGee.”
