While I see merits to both sides of this issue, I'm inclined to agree with Julie for the simple reason that I, as a lover of poetry, have primarily learned to love poetry through the written page. That may be a shame, or a sign of the barbarism of my age group (I'm 39), but it's a fact nonetheless. Therefore, when I have the poems in front of me, I get more out of them. This is not to say that, when I hear Rhina Espaillat read tomorrow night, that I am going to go fumbling though her books to try to find the poems she's reading--that would detract from the moment. But in a podcast situation, since we have the technology, and also have the ability to pause the recording and reread something that we might not have grasped, or only grasped a tendril of at the beginning, I think it's a real boon to have the text printed out. On the other hand, since I am a bit "hearing challenged" when it comes to poetry, I also find it's a good exercise to close my eyes and let a poem or two spill over me without looking at the texts, but I will still want to have the texts to go back to.
That's my two cents.
Jeff
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