Скачать или смотреть The origins of Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne”

This past weekend, the International Poetry Forum welcomed Judy Collins back to Pittsburgh to celebrate her new volume of poetry, SOMETIMES IT’S HEAVEN. After her reading, Collins discussed early collaborations with Leonard Cohen, reflecting on the creation of “Suzanne” and “Since You Asked” nearly sixty years ago.

Both folk music legends have ties to Pittsburgh’s International Poetry Forum, a nonprofit reading series founded in 1966. One of the first public performances of “Suzanne” was in 1966 at the International Poetry Forum, where Judy Collins played the song for a crowd of nearly two thousand at Carnegie Music Hall. The lyrics to the song were originally published as the poem “Suzanne Takes You Down” in Cohen’s poetry collection PARASITES OF HEAVEN (1966).

That same year, Collins introduced Cohen’s work to Samuel Hazo, founder of the International Poetry Forum, who extended an invitation to perform in 1968. Cohen fell ill and was unable to travel; Collins (who returned the International Poetry Forum in 1969 and 2025) played tribute to Cohen’s work during her subsequent visits.

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[International Poetry Forum, 2025. All works c. authors; all rights reserved.]