A Reading from “The Big Smoke” by Adrian Matejka

Adrian Matejka reads “Hubert’s Museum & Flea Circus,” “Battle Royale,” “Sporting Life,” “Rememory,” and “Verdi’s Il Travatore” from The Big Smoke, a 2013 National Book Award finalist for poetry. The Big Smoke is Matejka’s third collection of poetry, chronicling boxer Jack Johnson’s fight against poverty and Jim Crow to become the boxing heavyweight world champion.