Art for Justice

Randall Horton gives the inaugural reading in the Poetry Center’s Art for Justice series. Horton reads new work commissioned by the Poetry Center from a manuscript in progress titled #219128, as well as excerpts from Hook: A Memoir (2015). Ojalá Systems gives an introductory performance.

Nikky Finney reads poems from her collections The World Is Round (2003) and Lovechild's Hotbed of Occasional Poetry (forthcoming in 2020). Finney also reads her new work titled "Black Boy with Cow: A Still Life" commissioned for the Poetry Center's Art for Justice series. Members of the American Friends Service Committee, Tucson give an introductory presentation.

Natalie Diaz reads new work commissioned as part of the Art for Justice series. Representatives of the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project give an opening presentation. 

Evie Shockley reads new work commissioned as part of the Art for Justice series. This reading was originally given with Patrick Rosal for the Art for Justice series. Representatives of Tucson's Sex Workers Outreach Project give an opening presentation. 

Patrick Rosal reads new work commissioned as part of the Art for Justice series, focused on race riots which occurred in Watsonville, California in 1930. This reading was given alongside Evie Shockley for the Art for Justice series. Representatives of Tucson's Sex Workers Outreach Project give an opening presentation. 

Angel Nafis reads new work commissioned as part of the Art for Justice Series. This reading was originally given alongside Patricia Smith. Leilani Clark represents BIPOC United Tucson in an opening presentation.

Patricia Smith reads new work commissioned as part of the Art for Justice Series as well as poems from her collection Teahouse of the Almighty (2006). This reading was originally given alongside Angel Nafis. Leilani Clark represents BIPOC United Tucson in an opening presentation.

Ada Limón reads from her poetry manuscript What Is Caged Is Also Kept From Us, commissioned by the Poetry Center as part of the Art for Justice series. Lola Rainey gives an opening presentation focused on pretrial detention.

As part of the Institute for Inquiry and Poetics, Sin À Tes Souhaits (Frank Johnson), Vanessa Angélica Villarreal, and Raquel Salas Rivera read and discuss poems from their unpublished manuscripts Literal Dope (À Tes Souhaits), Racial Calculus (Villarreal), and Oso Blanco (Salas Rivera). Diana Marie Delgado leads a conversation throughout the event.

As part of the Institute for Inquiry and Poetics and the Art for Justice series, Reginald Dwayne Betts performs a portion of Felon: An American Washi Tale, a one-man play centered on the importance of books and paper in and after prison. Diana Marie Delgado leads a conversation with Betts and guest Joe Watson to conclude the reading, focused on the play, the Art for Justice series itself, and the Million Book Project.

Marcelo Hernandez Castillo shares new work commissioned by the Poetry Center as part of the Art for Justice series. Informed by Hernandez Castillo's work with youth in detention, these poems and video-text explore the relationship between facts and story as they communicate the pain of the carceral justice system. This reading was also given as part of the Morgan Lucas Schuldt Memorial Reading Series, alongside Marwa Helal.

As part of the Institute for Inquiry and Poetics and the Art for Justice series, Nicole Sealey, John Murillo, and Hanif Abdurraqib read from and discuss their writing centered on police violence, the carceral justice system, and racial injustice towards Black Americans. Sealey specifically reads excerpts from her then-unpublished manuscript The Ferguson Report: An Erasure (2023). Diana Marie Delgado leads a conversation throughout the event.