Poets Gary Snyder and Sandra McPherson, both UC Davis English professors, will appear in an upcoming PBS series called "The Language of Life With Bill Moyers." Beginning June 23, the eight-part series will include 18 American poets in performance and in conversation. Snyder, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, is acclaimed for his poetry about his early experiences in the mountains of the West. He is a member of the "Beat" generation of poets and turns toward the influences of Zen Buddhism and Native American culture. About poetry, he says: "There are things you cannot say except in poetry. And those are the things I need to say." McPherson's poetry explores the complexities of human relationships and chronicles her experience as an adopted daughter, as a wife and as a mother of a high-functioning autistic daughter. "Though life may be painful, there is a joy and a power in writing, even when you're dealing with something that is hard to live through day by day ..., " McPherson says.