Browse Reading by Year

N. Scott Momaday reads from across his body of work, sharing excerpts from his novel The Ancient Child (1989) together with poems from his soon-to-be-published In the Presence of the Sun: Stories and Poems, 1961-1991 (1992). After opening the reading with three humorous epitaphs, Momaday discusses Set-angya, a 19th century Kiowa chief who reappears throughout his work.

Mei-mei Berssenbrugge reads poems from her collection Empathy (1989), together with a poem that would appear in Sphericity (1993). She also reads an uncollected long prose piece, "A Context of a Wave," which considers relationships between individuals and place, as well as between life and literature.

Leslie Marmon Silko reads from her poems and fiction, including excerpts from Almanac of the Dead (1991) and Storyteller (1981). She also performs traditional oral stories.

Galway Kinnell reads from across his body of work before reading drafts of poems that would appear in his twelfth book, Imperfect Thirst (1994). He reads from Body Rags (1968), The Book of Nightmares (1971), Mortal Acts, Mortal Words (1980), and When One Has Lived a Long Time Alone (1990). He also recites a portion of Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" in recognition of the 100th anniversary of Whitman's death.

Poet and sculptor Nora Naranjo Morse, of Santa Clara Pueblo, reads from Mud Woman: Poems from the Clay (1992), including an expanded sung and spoken version of "Gia's Song."

Amy Hempel reads from her first two short story collections, Reasons to Live (1985) and At the Gates of the Animal Kingdom (1990). She opens by reading Jack Gilbert's poem "Hunger," which she describes as being taped above her typewriter for "years and years."

David Wojahn reads primarily from his then-manuscript Late Empire (1994), which would be published two years later. He also reads four sections of his sonnet sequence on rock and roll from Mystery Train (1990).

Jane Miller reads from her third collection, American Odalisque (1987), as well as from August Zero (1993), which would be published the following year. She also reads an excerpt from her nonfiction collection Working Time: Essays on Poetry, Culture, and Travel (1992).

Hayden Carruth reads work written from the 1960s to the early 1990s, from his Collected Shorter Poems, 1946-1991 (1992), published the same year as this reading. Many of the poems embody the people, places, and rural culture of Vermont. By request, he closes the reading with a poem about fellow poet James Wright.

This reading was originally scheduled as a joint appearance by Brazilian poet Adélia Prado and her translator Ellen Doré Watson, but Prado was unable to travel due to health issues. Watson thus reads her translations of Prado's poetry, as collected in The Alphabet in the Park: Selected Poems (1990), and plays recordings of Prado reading some of her poetry in the original Portuguese.

Pete Fromm reads the story "The Fairest of Them All," which would later appear in his short story collection Dry Rain (1997). Set in Alaska, the story is narrated by a man whose twin sister comes to stay with him following a lost custody dispute over her children. This reading was given with Sandra Alcosser.

Sandra Alcosser reads from A Fish to Feed All Hunger (1986, reissued 1992) and a working manuscript for Except by Nature (1998), which would be published six years later. She describes her selections as creating a daybook, and the poems follow her moves between Montana, New Orleans, and San Diego. This reading was originally given with Pete Fromm.

Judith Barrington reads from History and Geography (1989) along with poems that would go on to be collected in Horses and the Human Soul (2004) and several that remain uncollected. The poems she selects for this reading center on place, landscape, memory, and Lesbian identity; horses recur throughout.

Denise Levertov reads from her collection Evening Train (1992), mixing in several poems from A Door in the Hive (1989). She also reads poems that would later appear in Sands of the Well (1996). Longing—for the past, for human connection, for an end to atrocities committed by the United States military—plays a prominent role in the poems Levertov reads.

Martín Espada reads from Trumpets from the Islands of their Eviction (1987), Rebellion is the Circle of a Lover's Hands (1990), and City of Coughing and Dead Radiators (1993).

W. S. Di Piero reads poems from his fifth collection, The Restorers (1992), as well as poems that would later be published in Shadow Burning (1995). The poems are inspired by place—particularly California, Italy, and Philadelphia—and subjects as diverse as natural history, the lives of the saints, and the realm of Faerie.

Lynn Emanuel reads from her third collection, The Dig (1992), which includes many persona poems focused on small town life in Nevada and the impacts of nuclear weapons testing. She opens with an early version of "The Politics of Narrative: Why I Am a Poet," which would later appear in Then, Suddenly— (1999).

Marilynne Robinson reads from her novel Housekeeping (1981).

Benjamin Alire Saenz reads poems that appear in Dark and Perfect Angels (1995); Calendar of Dust (1991); and Edwin Rolfe's First Love, and Other Poems (1951).

Leslie Marmon Silko reads Sacred Water (1993), a book-length lyric essay. This reading was originally given with Joy Harjo.

Joy Harjo reads poems from The Woman Who Fell From the Sky (1994), along with the essay "Warrior Road." This reading was originally given with Leslie Marmon Silko.

Steve Orlen reads extensively from his collection The Bridge of Sighs (1992). His selections follow the book's four major themes, which he describes as poems of childhood, poems of love and marriage, poems of relationship, and poems of grace.

Leroy V. Quintana reads poems including "Guadalupe," "Frida," and "Points North." Estela Portillo Trambley reads from her short story "If It Weren't For The Honeysuckle" (1975).

Juan Felipe Herrera warmly engages the audience with work that would be collected in books such as Mayan Drifter: Chicano Poet in the Lowlands of America (1997), Notebooks of a Chile Verde Smuggler (2002), and Half of the World in Light: New and Selected Poems (2008), as well as uncollected pieces. Standout performances include "Notes on Other Chicana and Chicano Inventions" and "Suicide in Hollywood / Lupe Velez (Circ. 1923) Serigrafía de una actriz Mexicana," read in Spanish and English. Opening his reading with an invocation to sky, earth, wind, and fire, Herrera encourages audience laughter and participation throughout the evening.

Denis Johnson reads from his third and fourth books of poetry, The Incognito Lounge and Other Poems (1982) and The Veil (1987). He also reads from his short story collection Jesus' Son (1992), published the year prior to this reading. He primarily selects pieces set in Arizona.

Mark Doty reads poems from his third book, My Alexandria (1993), together with poems that would be published two years later in Atlantis (1995). Reflections on the act of description recur throughout the poems, which inhabit Provincetown, Boston, and New York City. Doty also reads one poem set in Tucson from his second book, Bethlehem in Broad Daylight (1991).

Longtime University of Arizona faculty member Peter Wild reads poems from The Brides of Christ (1991), together with poems that would remain uncollected or appear in his final poetry collection, Easy Victory (1994). Throughout, he reads poems about individuals from American history, European art history, and the Bible.

Gretel Ehrlich discusses the process of collaboration on a series of poems composed for a ballet. She reads poems from this series, including "Resolute Passage"; she also reads excerpts from "The Fasting Heart," an essay collected in Islands, The Universe, Home (1991).

Rosemary Catacalos reads poems on themes such as identity, quirks of memory, borders and border towns, the effects of speaking three languages (Greek, Spanish, and English) as a child, and the Day of the Dead.

Sherman Alexie reads widely from his work and engages the audience with stories characterized by his signature humor.

Sherman Alexie discusses culture, distance, Pan-Indianism, and the author's responsibility, speaking passionately for Native stories told by Native writers.

Patricia Hampl opens with two poems, "The Moment" and "Last Letter." Then she reads the essay "Pilgrimage" from her book Spillville (1986), as well as two excerpts from her memoir A Romantic Education (1981). At this event, Hampl also read from Virgin Time: In Search of the Contemplative Life (1992), but this portion of her reading was not recorded.

Luis J. Rodriguez reads from The Concrete River (1991) and Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A. (1993), along with poems that would later be collected in Trochemoche (1998). He also discusses his experiences with Los Angeles gang violence and the Chicano movement as well as his work with at-risk youth.