It was my great pleasure to edit the first-ever, audio anthology of our state's poets reciting their verses: Bread & Steel: Illinois Poets Reading from Their Works. That 2007 anthology, originally published in compact disk format, is now accessible in both text and audio via this website by simply clicking HERE.

Bread & Steel offers a literal “record” of Illinois’s twenty-first century multiethnic voices. The range of 24 contributors – including Dave Etter, Susan Hahn, Li-Young Lee, Haki Madhubuti, and Lisel Mueller – reflects the cultural, aesthetic, and racial mix of this state they call home.

Through the poems of established poets and those just emerging in the art form, you journey along the thoroughfares and back roads of Illinois's diverse poetic landscape.

These poets' characteristic tones and inflections add considerable depth to the listener's experience, delivering the intimacy of the poetry coffeehouse to the library, classroom, or living room.

For my audio recitation of the Bread & Steel introduction, description and acknowledgments, please click the following: Bread & Steel Audio Intro

Thank you for your support of the word. In an age that seemingly conspires against it, you help to keep poetry alive for young and old alike.

Cheers,

Kevin Stein
Illinois Poet Laureate

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