humor

Maxine Chernoff reads widely from Leap Year Day: New and Selected Poems (1990). In addition to poems and prose poems published over several decades, she reads work that would later be published in World: Poems 1991-2001 (2001). She closes the reading with a short story from Signs of Devotion (1993) and an excerpt from her then-unpublished novel American Heaven (1996).

Jay Hopler reads poems from Still Life (2022), written during his time living with a terminal cancer diagnosis. Hopler was unable to travel to Tucson but appeared for an in-person audience via Zoom. This reading was originally given with Kimberly Johnson.

Luis Alberto Urrea reads poems from The Tijuana Book of the Dead (2015) focused on life in the US-Mexico borderlands. He opens with one poem forthcoming in Piedra (2023) and concludes with a chapter from The House of Broken Angels (2019), retold from memory. This reading was presented as part of the 2021 Tucson Humanities Festival.

Los Angeles poet Sesshu Foster reads from City Terrace Field Manual (1996), World Ball Notebook (2008), and City of the Future (2018). He reads poems that engage with East LA, the influences of his father, and his own life as a father, mixing candor and humor throughout.

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.

Eileen Myles reads poems from a "Working Life" (2023) focused on daily life, love, animals, humor, and the act of writing. Myles opens with an unpublished essay and concludes with new poems—several of which respond to animal cruelty—as well as a short story.

Sawako Nakayasu reads work stemming from her 2017 return to the United States from Japan and the challenges of being immersed again in the violence of American culture. She opens with several new ant poems before reading from Say Translation Is Art (2020), Some Girls Walk Into the Country They Are From (2020), Pink Waves (2023), and her forthcoming book Settle Her. This reading was presented in collaboration with the American Literary Translators Association and as part of the ALTA46 conference.

Marilyn Chin reads from her sixth collection, Sage (2023), sharing poems that employ humor, puns, rhyme, allusions to Chinese and English literature, and a wide array of traditional and modified verse forms. Chin opens the reading by performing from memory two poems from A Portrait of the Self as Nation: New and Selected Poems (2018).

Gabriel Dozal reads from his first book, The Border Simulator (2023), which considers the US-Mexico border with humor through the voices of several characters. Dozal also reads poems from what he describes as a B-side to the book—related poems that don't appear in the published version. This reading was originally given alongside Maddie Norris, Gabriel Palacios, and Margo Steines, all fellow alumni of the University of Arizona creative writing MFA program.

Gabriel Palacios reads from his first book, A Ten Peso Burial for Which Truth I Sign (2024). The poems touch on themes of family history and identity, and Tucson appears throughout. This reading was originally given alongside Gabriel Dozal, Maddie Norris, and Margo Steines, all fellow alumni of the University of Arizona creative writing MFA program.

Mary Ruefle reads from The Book (2023), together with new poems and what she terms "scraps"—found poems or brief fragments of writing. She primarily selects short pieces but also reads from "Dear Friends," an essay on friendship. Humor and reflections on the passage of time recur throughout.

Peruvian poet Tilsa Otta and translator Farid Matuk read from The Hormone of Darkness: A Playlist (2024) in both the original Spanish and the English translations. Otta shares poems that reflect on the self in relationship to lovers, the universe, and contemporary music including reggaeton and pop.

U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón reads poems that center on the natural world, resilience, women's strength, and the interconnection of all living things. She reads from her books Lucky Wreck (2006), Sharks in the Rivers (2010), Bright Dead Things (2015), The Carrying (2018), and The Hurting Kind (2022). Limón closes with two poems written during her laureateship, commissioned by the National Climate Assessment and NASA.

Katie Farris reads poems from Standing in the Forest of Being Alive (2023), which follows her experiences with breast cancer, chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation. Through these poems, Farris explores love, intimacy, and daily life during illness with humor and compassion. She opens with one new poem and a translation of Ukrainian poet Lesyk Panasiuk. This reading was originally given with Ilya Kaminsky.