marriage

Jack Gilbert reads widely from poems published in the 37-year period between his first book, Views of Jeopardy, and his fifth book, The Dance Most of All, ultimately published in 2009.

Marina Rivera reads from Mestiza (1977) and Sobra (1977); she also reads several uncollected poems. This reading was originally given with Carolyn Kizer. 

In this performance, Michael Burkard reads from his first three books, particularly from the 1981 collection Ruby for Grief. He also reads some uncollected work.

William Pitt Root reads from his first collection, The Storm and Other Poems (1969), and from the soon-to-be published Striking the Dark Air for Music (1973). Between selections from these two books, he reads lighter, more humorous poems that would remain uncollected or be published much later.

Steve Orlen reads largely uncollected early poems, some of which appeared in Poetry magazine or would later appear in his chapbooks Sleeping on Doors (1975) and Separate Creatures (1976).

Jonathan Penner reads from Going Blind (1977) as well as work published in periodicals.

Grace Paley reads prose appearing in her two collections Enormous Changes at the Last Minute (1974) and Later the Same Day (1985).

A celebration of the fairy tale, featuring readings from authors included in My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me (2010), an anthology of new fairy tales edited by Kate Bernheimer.

Lydia Millet reads from her novel Magnificence (2012) as part of the University of Arizona Prose Series. This reading was originally given with Shannon Cain.

Rita Dove reads from her collection American Smooth: Poems (2004).

Thomas Kinsella reads poems from Downstream (1962), Wormwood (1966), and Nightwalker and Other Poems (1968), as well as poems that would later appear in Collected Poems 1956-1994 (1996) and Selected Poems (2007).

Poetry Center Summer Resident Polly Rosenwaike reads an excerpt from the short story Grow Your Eyelashes. This reading was originally given with Samuel Ace and Dexter L. Booth.

C.E. Poverman reads from his novel Love by Drowning (2013). This reading was originally given with Matt Méndez as part of the UA Prose Series.

Linda Gregg reads primarily from Too Bright to See (1981). This reading was originally given with Alan Feldman and Faye Kicknosway. 

Rodney Jones reads from Apocalyptic Narrative and Other Poems (1993), Things That Happen Once (1996), and Elegy for the Southern Drawl (1999).

Claribel Alegría reads poems and prose from Luisa in Realityland (1987), Woman of the River (1989), Fugues (1993), and Thresholds / Umbrales (1996).

Rosario Ferré reads from her poetry and fiction, frequently alternating between English and Spanish.

Robert Boswell reads from the second chapter of his novel Mystery Ride (1993). Antonya Nelson reads her short story "Irony, Irony, Irony," which would later be collected in Female Trouble (2003).

Nanci Kincaid reads from a manuscript written during her time teaching at the University of Arizona that would eventually become her novel Verbena (2002). This early draft is untitled, and was originally intended to be the second in a trilogy of novellas collectively titled Three Wives.

David Kirby reads from his poetry. Kirby provides many anecdotes between poems, explaining the role of research in his creative process, and telling witty stories of the personal experiences that spark much of his work.

Steve Orlen reads poems from the just-published collection Kisses (1997), as well as new poems.

Steve Orlen reads from his collections Permission to Speak (1978) and A Place at the Table (1982), as well as from newer material.

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.

Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Stephen Dunn opens with "Under the Black Oaks," the poem he had most recently written at the time of this reading. Dunn reads poems from throughout his career, often on the theme of family, including a poem about losing his mother, an atheist's parenting dilemmas as his daughter moves toward Christianity, and an ode to the sister he never had.

Mary Elsie Robertson reads a chapter from her novel What I Have to Tell You (1989). This University of Arizona Creative Writing faculty reading was originally given with Vivian Gornick.

Leonard Michaels reads from short stories written throughout his career, and concludes the reading with an excerpt from his novel The Men's Club (1981). His uncompromising realist sketches catch characters at their darkest and most vulnerable moments, and are colored with absurdist humor. Stories include those published in his collections Going Places (1969) and I Would Have Saved Them If I Could (1975). 

Vivian Gornick reads from Fierce Attachments (1987), a memoir of the author's past and present relationship with her mother. This University of Arizona Creative Writing faculty reading was originally given with Mary Elsie Robertson.

Jane Miller opens her reading with "Miami Heart" and "The Poet," both from Memory at These Speeds: New and Selected Poems (1996). She continues with work from Wherever You Lay Your Head, published in 1999. This reading was originally given with Eleni Sikelianos.

Rachel Zucker reads from an unpublished manuscript tentatively titled "Sound Machine."

Li-Young Lee reads new and uncollected work as well as two poems from his collection The Undressing (2018). This reading was given as part of the Tom Sanders Memorial Reading Series. 

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.

Kimberly Johnson reads primarily from her fourth poetry collection, Fatal (2022), along with several poems from A Metaphorical God (2008) and Uncommon Prayer (2014). This reading was originally given with Jay Hopler, who appeared via Zoom.

Nicole Sealey reads from her first full-length collection, Ordinary Beast (2017), sharing poems that approach the embodied experience of mortality and the violence-haunted reality of being a Black woman in contemporary America. Her selections include an ekphrastic poem and a true cento, composed of one hundred lines collected from other poets.