humanity

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.

Srikanth Reddy reads from Facts for Visitors (2004) and Voyager (2011). This reading was originally given with Brian Turner and Joshua Marie Wilkinson.

Brian Turner reads from Here, Bullet (2005). This reading was originally given with Srikanth Reddy and Joshua Marie Wilkinson.

Annie Guthrie reads poems from her collection the good dark (2015) and from a manuscript titled let x (be rogue). This reading was originally given with Richard Siken.

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. 

Rigoberto González reads from his memoir What Drowns the Flowers in Your Mouth: A Memoir of Brotherhood (2018) and his newest collection of poetry The Book of Ruin (2019).

Former U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera begins with English and Spanish readings from Akrílica (2022), trading languages with translator Farid Matuk. Together, they also read Herrera’s poem "i am not a paid protestor," which Herrera terms a "duo poem" for two voices in dialogue with one another. Herrera closes out the reading with poems and remarks about mass shootings, classical music, space exploration, and human suffering and connection.

Jane Hirshfield reads from her ninth collection of poems, Ledger (2020), which meditates on the cascading effects of climate change and the griefs of contemporary human life. In recognition of National Poetry Month, she opens with "The Poet" from The Lives of the Heart (1997) and selections from The Ink Dark Moon (1988), her translations of Classical Period Japanese poets Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu. She closes with uncollected new work.