What is p4?

Poetry and Prose Performances Project (p4) will be bringing high quality recordings of great literature to YouTube’s broad audience. This semester I will be recording:

• “The Gift of the Magi”, by O Henry,
• “Birches” and “The Mending Wall” by Robert Frost,
• “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by TS Elliot,
• “The Yellow Wall-Paper” and “If I were a Man” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman,
• “The Happy Prince” by Oscar Wilde, and
• Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie.

This semester my focus is on providing an educational resource for students who find reading difficult. I did not read until about 5th grade (I could but rarely did because I was slow). I gained all my love of books through books read aloud. My librarian at Peninsula (my alternative middle school) had a beautiful reading voice, but I spent much of my time at home listening to books on tape. YouTube allows me to give back this experience of being read to with the help of CMU’s performance community.

Last semester I started this project as the Posner Intern for fall 2008. To learn about the Posner Center at Carnegie Mellon University, go here. Go here to read p4’s original project proposal. Last semester p4 recorded 8 of William Shakespeare’s sonnets and the first two chapters of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. Utilizing the vibrant performance community at Carnegie Mellon University, I held auditions to select participants; worked with those participants to choose who will record which piece; record that piece; edit that recording; and post the final products to YouTube.

This website will serve as the hub of information for participants. The blog will track progress and post embedded links to the YouTube videos. Enjoy!