This program features poets James Autry and Quincy Troupe, both of whom work with the oral tradition to lift poetry off the page and bring it into the community. James Autry, a businessman and publisher, writes poetry about the business world and the Southern culture of his youth. His work includes such poems as "Thoughts on Firing a Salesman." In this program, Autry reads his poetry at a business meeting and a church. Quincy Troupe, a professor of American and Third World literature, is equally exciting reading his poetry in a classroom, prison, or bar. The positive response of a group of prisoners to Troupe’s poetry classes shows how poetry can speak to and for people in all conditions of life. (60 minutes)