Kathy Acker, reading “Eat Your Heart Out,“ 1977 in San Francisco —The Poetry Center

Full-program video with downloadable audio option at Poetry Center Digital Archive: Kathy Acker, assisted by Rae Armantrout and Kit Robinson, reads her work from manuscript, “Eat Your Heart Out,“ speculating on an obsessive relationship between Janis Joplin and James Dean, on February 9, 1977, in the César Chavez Student Union at San Francisco State University. The Poetry Center’s first program presented in 1977, on the full-program video Acker is introduced by Lewis MacAdams and followed on stage by poet Jim Gustafson. Acker’s performance also includes her reading from the manuscript of her novel Kathy Goes to Haiti. Please note: due to camera trouble at various junctures in Acker’s reading a freeze-frame was used by the 1977 editor to replace the missing moving image. Audio is continuous throughout. The cobalt blue cast to the reading in toto is a magic trick, to compensate. #kathyacker #poetrycenterarchivegoeslive