Browse Reading by Year

At the inaugural Tucson Festival of Books, Steve Orlen reads poems from his Hollyridge Press chapbook A Thousand Threads (2009). This reading was originally given alongside Jane Miller and includes a question and answer session with both poets.

Richard Shelton reads from The Last Person to Hear Your Voice (2007) and Crossing the Yard: Thirty Years as a Prison Volunteer (2007).

This reading coincided with the release of Johnson's novel Nobody Move, the publication of the novel and the date of the reading being only a few days apart. During the question and answer session, Johnson reads a poem from Incognito Lounge (1982), the book which earned him a National Poetry Series Award.

Heather McHugh reads widely from her body of work, including poems from Upgraded to Serious (2009).

In this lecture, Heather McHugh discusses the design and impact of the ends of poems, including close readings of powerful last lines including examples from the work of Emo Philips, Abd-ar-Rahman III, Su Tung-po, Anthony Hecht, D.H. Lawrence, Paul Valéry, Alan Dugan, Julio Cortázar, Louis Simpson, Samuel Beckett, and John Frederick Nims.

Editors and friends of David Foster Wallace discuss his body of work and recount personal stories.

In her opening lecture for the Poetry Center's "Oh Earth, Wait for Me: Conversations about Art and Ecology" series, Alison Hawthorne Deming draws connections between the folk tale of Baba Yaga and the myth of Demeter in order to explore the intersections of science, myth, and ecology.

In this performance, Robert Boswell reads an excerpt from "The Heyday of the Insensitive Bastards," from his 2009 short-story collection of the same name.

Given as part of the Poetry Center's "Oh Earth, Wait for Me: Conversations about Art and Ecology" series, this performance begins with Sandra Alcosser speaking about a variety of writers and artists in the context of The Language of Conservation Project and ends with readings from Except by Nature, A Fish to Feed All Hunger, and several uncollected sonnets.

Jonathan Skinner presents his work as part of the Poetry Center's Fall 2009 sequence of themed readings, "Oh Earth, Wait for Me: Conversations about Art and Ecology." After opening with a talk titled "Thoughts on Things: Poetics of the Third Landscape," he reads poems from With Naked Foot (2009) and Political Cactus Poems (2005). He closes the reading with poems from an ongoing series titled Warblers, some of which would be published in chapbook form by Albion Books (2010). This reading was given alongside Juliana Spahr.

Juliana Spahr reads from The Connection of Everyone with Lungs (2005) and "Gentle Now, Don't Add to Heartache" as part of the Poetry Center's Fall 2009 sequence of themed readings, "Oh Earth, Wait for Me: Conversations about Art and Ecology." This reading was given alongside Jonathan Skinner.

David Dunn presents his work with soundscapes as part of the "Oh Earth, Wait for Me: Conservations about Art and Ecology" series.

As part of the Poetry Center's "Oh Earth, Wait for Me: Conversations about Art and Ecology" series, Lucinda Bliss discusses her art. This performance continues with a dialogue between Lucinda Bliss and Alison Hawthorne Deming and concludes with a reading by Alison Hawthorne Deming.

Lila Zemborain and Rosa Alcalá present their work as part of the Poetry Center's Fall 2009 sequence of themed readings, "Oh Earth, Wait for Me: Conversations about Art and Ecology." In the first half of the reading, Zemborain reads poems in Spanish and Alcalá reads their translations in English. Next, Alcalá reads her own poems. The performance closes with a poem read simultaneously in English and Spanish.

Colloquium on translation featuring poets Lila Zemborain and Rosa Alcalá.

Eleni Sikelianos reads from Earliest Worlds (2001), The California Poem (2004), and Body Clock (2008). This reading was given as the final installment of the Poetry Center's "Oh Earth, Wait for Me: Conversations about Art and Ecology" series.

As part of the Next Word series, Philip Jenks reads from his first two books and from the chapbook How Many of You Are You? (2006). He opens and closes the reading with two poems that would go on to be collected in colony collapse metaphor (2014). This performance was originally given with Akilah Oliver and Brandon Shimoda.

In her Next Word reading with Brandon Shimoda and Philip Jenks, Akilah Oliver reads from The Putterer's Notebook and A Toast in the House of Friends. Her reading includes a standout performance of the long poem "An Arriving Guard of Angels, Thusly Coming to Greet," an elegy for her son Oluchi McDonald.

At his Next Word reading with Akilah Oliver and Philip Jenks, Brandon Shimoda reads three longer poems. Two of these were unpublished at the time of the reading, including the very recent "Poems for the People."

In this panel discussion moderated by Chris Nelson, Akilah Oliver, Philip Jenks, and Brandon Shimoda discuss innovation in poetry.

This panel discussion features faculty poets from the University of Arizona Creative Writing MFA Program. Alison Hawthorne Deming, Boyer Rickel, Jane Miller, and Steve Orlen participate in a dialogue about the writing process, moderated by Barbara Cully.

This event, part poetry reading and part jazz concert, pairs the work of poet Ron Silliman with the music of jazz pianist Marilyn Crispell, featuring solo performances by each artist as well as a collaborative performance.

John D'Agata reads from his book About a Mountain (2010).

Iraqi poet Sinan Antoon reads from his collection Baghdad Blues and uncollected translations of many more poems. He concludes the reading with a performance of a poem in Arabic.

Dan Beachy-Quick reads widely from his body of work and discusses the creative processes that drive each collection. The performance concludes with a reading of newer poems.

In this colloquium, Dan Beachy-Quick discusses form and influence.

At this tribute to Gustaf Sobin, a US-born poet who lived and wrote in Provence for more than forty years, Jeffrey Miller reads poems from Sobin's chapbook Sicilian Miniatures (1986). Miller is introduced by Andrew Joron.

At this tribute to Gustaf Sobin, a US-born poet who lived and wrote in Provence for more than forty years, Andrew Zawacki (Sobin's co-literary executor, with Andrew Joron) reads two poems, including a work thought to be Sobin's last poem.

At this tribute to Gustaf Sobin, a US-born poet who lived and wrote in Provence for more than forty years, Michael Palmer reads poems appearing in his collection Thread (2011) as well as a piece by Sobin from his book Aura: Last Essays (2009).

At this tribute to Gustaf Sobin, a US-born poet who lived and wrote in Provence for more than forty years, Andrew Joron (Sobin's co-literary executor, with Andrew Zawacki) reads three poems representing different stages of the poet's life.

At this tribute to Gustaf Sobin, a US-born poet who lived and wrote in Provence for more than 40 years, Sobin's translator Tedi López Mills reads one of Sobin's longer poems in English as well as her translation of the poem into Spanish. She is introduced by Jeffrey Miller.

At this tribute to Gustaf Sobin, a US-born poet who lived and wrote in Provence for more than forty years, poet Ed Foster reads two pieces by Sobin as well as a poem Foster wrote in dedication, collected in What He Ought to Know (2006).

At this performance given with Abraham Smith during the Tucson Festival of Books, Kim Addonizio reads from her books Lucifer at the Starlite and What Is This Thing Called Love. Before a question-and-answer session with both poets, Kim Addonizio performs a short song on her harmonica.

Abraham Smith reads pieces from Whim Man Mammon (2007) and also a poem about Hank Williams that would go on to become the full-length collection Hank (2010).

Alice Notley reads from Reason and Other Women (2010).

In this performance, originally given with Alice Notley at the 2010 Tucson Festival of Books, Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge reads poems that would go on to be collected in Hello, the Roses (2013).

At the 2010 Tucson Festival of Books, Tenney Nathanson reads work from Ghost Snow Falls Through the Void: Globalization, published in 2010 by Chax Press. This reading was given alongside Charles Bernstein and Barbara Henning and includes a question and answer session with all three authors.

Mexican poet Tedi López Mills reads from her work in Spanish at the 2010 Tucson Festival of Books, accompanied by her translator, Wendy Burk, who reads the poems in English. The reading includes work from an unpublished bilingual manuscript of López Mills's selected poems.

D.A. Powell performs poems from Chronic, published the year before this reading.

Becca Klaver reads poetry from her debut collection LA Liminal (2010).

Geraldine Connolly reads poems informed by sense of place, particularly Montana, in a performance for the Tucson Festival of Books.

Sheila E. Murphy reads widely from her body of work.

Laynie Browne's performance at the 2010 Tucson Festival of Books includes poems from Daily Sonnets and The Desires of Letters. The reading concludes with a question and answer session with poet Anne Waldman, with whom Browne shared this event.

Anne Waldman discusses and reads from two recent projects, Manatee/Humanity and the Chax Press chapbook Matriot Acts. This reading was given alongside Laynie Browne for the 2010 Tucson Festival of Books.

Maria Melendez reads from her collection Flexible Bones (2010).

In this reading, Rigoberto González performs poetry and nonfiction; the reading concludes with a question and answer section with Maria Melendez.

Jonathan Rothschild reads from The Last Clubhouse Eulogy (2009).

Pamela Uschuck reads poems from Scattered Risks (2005), Greatest Hits (2009), and Crazy Love (2009).

In her Mary Ann Campau Fellowship reading, Liza Porter reads poems that would go on to be collected in Red Stain (2014), along with uncollected work.