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In this, Tess Gallagher's first reading for the Poetry Center, she performs poetry from three of her books and reads the work of Thomas Lux, Andre Breton, and Ciaran Carson.

Richard Shelton reads from The Tattooed Desert (1970), as well as several poems from Journal of Return (1969) and Of All the Dirty Words (1972).

Charles Wright reads from several of his books, along with three poems that would later be published, in slightly different versions, in his 1988 collection Zone Journals.

This reading takes place the year that James Wright's collection Two Citizens (1973) was published, and Wright reads extensively from that volume. Wright ends his reading with a poem that would be published in The Hudson Review that fall, but would otherwise remain uncollected.

George Hitchcock reads from his first four books: Poems & Prints (1962), Tactics of Survival (1964), The Dolphin with the Revolver in Its Teeth (1967), and A Ship of Bells (1968). He also reads work that will later be collected in The Rococo Eye (1970) and Lessons in Alchemy (1976). He opens the reading with a selection of found poems from the volume Pioneers of Modern Poetry (1967), which he crafted with Robert L. Peters.

This reading opens with Lawrence Ferlinghetti reading from his journal about stopping in Salome, Arizona on his way to perform for the Poetry Center. He reads primarily from A Coney Island of the Mind but also includes a performance of Walter Lowenfels's anti-war poem "Where is Vietnam."

Neil Claremon reads from East by Southwest (1970), along with uncollected poems and poems that would later appear in West of the American Dream: Visions of an Alien Landscape (1973).

In this performance, Alison Hawthorne Deming reads both poetry and prose, including excerpts from a book published the year of this reading, The Edges of the Civilized World, and poems from a collection that would be published seven years later, Genius Loci.

In this reading, originally given with Eloise Klein Healy, Peggy Shumaker reads from the collection Toucan Nest: Poems of Costa Rica (2013) and presents photographs from a series of residencies in Costa Rica.

Gerald Stern reads from This Time: New and Selected Poems (1998), Last Blue (2000), and American Sonnets (2002).

Peter Sacks reads poems from Necessity (2002) as well as new and uncollected work.

Semezdin Mehmedinović reads poems from Sarajevo Blues (1998) and Nine Alexandrias (2003).

Jack Gilbert reads primarily from The Great Fires: Poems 1982-1992 (1995) and Refusing Heaven (2005).

In this lecture titled "The Lives of the Poems," Joshua Beckman discusses his writing process and the physical experience of his poems. Included throughout are excerpts from unpublished poems written between 2008 and 2012.

Terry Tempest Williams reads excerpts from a manuscript later published as Leap: A Traveler in the Garden of Delights (2000).

Australian poets Vincent Buckley, Les Murray, and David Malouf visit Tucson to read their work, also providing background and commentary. Les Murray reads a selection of poems in chronological order, including his oldest poem "The Burning Crook." Vincent Buckley reads from Golden Builders (1976), Late Winter Child (1979), and The Pattern (1979), as well as some unpublished poems. David Malouf reads both poetry and passages from his novel An Imaginary Life (1978).

Stephen Dunn and Dave Smith read from their poems.

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.

John A. Williams reads poems from an early manuscript that would eventually come to form his collection Safari West (1998). He then reads from his novel !Click Song (1982), investigating issues of race, colonialism, and diaspora. Both books are winners of the American Book Award.

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

Luci Tapahonso reads from her collections Seasonal Woman (1982) and A Breeze Swept Through (1987), beginning with a piece that combines spoken poetry with song.

Ofelia Zepeda reads from her poetry collections When It Rains, Papago and Pima Poetry = Mat hekid o ju, 'O'odham Na-cegitodag (1982), Ocean Power: Poems from the Desert (1995), and Jewed 'I-hoi, Earth Movements (1997). She reads the poems first in O'odham, and then in English.

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.

Maurya Simon reads poems from The Wilderness: New & Selected Poems 1980-2016 (2018). This reading was originally given with Peggy Shumaker as the inaugural reading in the Tom Sanders Memorial Reading Series. 

Naomi Shihab Nye reads from her poetry collections Voices in the Air: Poems for Listeners (2018) and The Tiny Journalist (2019), as well as from new work. 

Aisha Sabatini Sloan, an alumna of the UA MFA Creative Writing program, reads from her book-length essay Borealis (2021). In this excerpt from the book, Sabatini Sloan details her travel to Homer, Alaska, and how the stark landscape interacts with her identity as a Black, queer woman. Sabatini Sloan's writing also incorporates references to pop culture and Black artists. This reading was originally given alongside Cara Blue Adams and Alberto Ríos to celebrate the MFA program's 50th anniversary.