animals

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.

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).

Sandra McPherson reads from her first two collections of poetry, Elegies for the Hot Season (1970) and Radiation (1973). She reads one love poem that remains uncollected.

Li-Young Lee reads widely from his body of work and discusses forms, craft, and chance in poetry.

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.

In this performance, Jimmy Santiago Baca reads from Black Mesa Poems, a collection published the year after this reading took place. He also performs poems from Martín & Meditations on the South Valley, a book that was awarded the Before Columbus American Book Award and earned Jimmy Santiago Baca an NEA grant for the year of this reading.

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.

Richard Shelton reads widely from his work.

Pamela Uschuck reads poems from Scattered Risks (2005), Greatest Hits (2009), and Crazy Love (2009).

In this reading given with Joshua Marie Wilkinson, Kate Bernheimer reads two stories from her collection Horse, Flower, Bird (2010).

Ray Gonzalez reads from Consideration of the Guitar (2005). Reading truncated due to a damaged original recording.

Joni Wallace reads primarily from her collection Blinking Ephemeral Valentine and also an unpublished piece accompanied by the guitarist Greg Lewis. This is the first half of a reading which also featured Mary Jo Bang.

Katherine Larson reads pieces from Radial Symmetry (2011) as well as "Of the Unsolved Problem of the Origin of the Angiosperms," a new poem.

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.

A group reading celebrating the release of New Poets of the American West (2010).

A group reading celebrating the release of Spiral Orb 5, a poetic inventory of saguaro national park.

Ruth Stone reads extensively from In an Iridescent Time (1959) and Topoography and Other Poems (1971); she also reads some unpublished poems.

In this reading, originally given with Beth Alvarado, Aurelie Sheehan shares excerpts from the novel History Lessons for Girls (2006), as well as a work in progress called One Hundred Histories.

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

Melissa Buckheit reads from Noctilucent (2012), as well as new and uncollected work. This reading was originally given with Karen Rigby and Anne Shaw.

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.

Dexter L. Booth reads poems from Scratching the Ghost (2013) along with new and uncollected work. This reading was originally given with Samuel Ace and Polly Rosenwaike.

Natalie Diaz reads poems from When My Brother Was an Aztec (2012) as well as new and uncollected work. This reading was originally given with Eduardo C. Corral to inaugurate the Morgan Lucas Schuldt Memorial Reading Series.

Lia Purpura reads from Rough Likeness (2011) as well as new and uncollected work. This reading was given as part of the Hybrid Writing Series, co-sponsored by the UA Prose Series.

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

Aurelie Sheehan reads from Jewelry Box: A Collection of Histories (2013). This reading was originally given with Farid Matuk.

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

Lucy Corin reads from her short story collection, One Hundred Apocalypses and Other Apocalypses (2013).

Mary Szybist reads from her National Book Award-winning collection Incarnadine (2013).

Alison Hawthorne Deming reads essays from Zoologies: On Animals and the Human Spirit (2014). This reading was originally given with Susan Briante.

Robert Bringhurst reads selections from his poetry and translations, providing background and historical context.

Gretel Ehrlich reads from and discusses the process of collaboration on Arctic Heart (1992), a series of poems composed for a ballet. She also reads excerpts from "The Fasting Heart," an essay on destruction and abundance in the natural world, collected in Islands, The Universe, Home (1991).

Maxine Kumin reads from several collections including her first book, Halfway (1961), as well as Upcountry (1972) and House, Bridge, Fountain, Gate (1975). She reads poems on themes such as animals, dreams, water, and the body, as well as two elegies to her close friend Anne Sexton, and a series of seven riddles.

Greg Sarris reads a story titled "Waiting for the Green Frog," in the voice of an elderly medicine woman, from his collection Grand Avenue: A Novel in Stories (1994).

British poet Jon Silkin reads from his poems, filled with imagery related to animals, death, and British history, especially the history of the Jewish community in Great Britain.

Roger Weingarten reads "The Tale of The Green Rose," which is the last poem in The Vermont Suicides (1978).

Sir Angus Wilson reads his early short story "What Do Hippos Eat" (1949), along with excerpts from his novels The Old Men at the Zoo (1961), No Laughing Matter (1967), and As If By Magic (1973).

Monique Wittig and Sande Zeig read for the Writers At Work Series. Wittig and Zeig team to play the parts of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza in a play written by Wittig and translated by Zeig, Le Voyage sans fin (The Constant Journey, 1985), based on Miguel de Cervantes's classic novel. Before performing the play, Wittig gives a brief talk explaining the role of transposition and gender roles in her adaption of Cervantes's work.

Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and novelist Maxine Kumin reads from her then-recent collection Nurture (1989), together with poems written throughout her career, as well as two poems that would go on to be collected in her next book, Looking for Luck (1992). Many of the poems consider connections between animals and humans. Kumin also reads a series of three elegies to her longtime friend Anne Sexton.

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.

Paul Zimmer reads poems inspired by his troubled youth during the Eisenhower years, as well as several persona poems.

Author and illustrator Faye Kicknosway reads poems from her book The Cat Approaches (1978); she also reads from a manuscript that would eventually become the Pulitzer Prize–nominated Who Shall Know Them? (1985), a series of ekphrastic poems engaging with Walker Evans's famed photographs of life during the Great Depression. This reading was originally given alongside readings by Alan Feldman and Linda Gregg.

Diane Glancy reads a range of works on the theme of story, including a number of poems that would subsequently appear in The West Pole (1997) and (Ado)ration (1999). She also reads excerpts from Pushing the Bear: A Novel of the Trail of Tears (1996) and closes the reading with a brief extract from Firesticks (1993). 

Roland Flint, Poet Laureate of Maryland at the time of this reading, opens with early poems from Say It (1979) and Resuming Green (1983). Flint reads from his National Poetry Series volume Stubborn (1990), interspersing work from Stubborn with recently written poems, some of which would go on to be published in Easy (1999). Flint also discusses his work as a translator of Bulgarian and reads several of his translations.

Richard Jackson reads long poems from his collection Worlds Apart (1987) and others that would be collected in Alive All Day (1992). He begins with a poem by Thomas Hardy, "I Looked Up from My Writing."

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.

Nanao Sakaki performs poems and songs in the courtyard of the Poetry Center on Cherry Avenue. Asking the audience, "Any questions? I'll answer by my poems," Sakaki addresses themes raised by audience members such as anger, feeling at home, time, walking, and love for the desert and all forms of life.

Richard Siken reads poems from his collection War of the Foxes (2015). This reading was orginally given with Annie Guthrie. 

Kimiko Hahn reads from Toxic Flora (2010) and Brain Fever (2014). This reading was given as part of the Spectacular Poetics series. 

In this question and answer session at Rincon High School, Byrd Baylor discusses her inspirations, writing process, and experience as a writer, in addition to her connection to nature, the land, and ceremonies. She also reads from I'm in Charge of Celebrations (1986). 

Alison Hawthorne Deming discusses the Climate Change & Poetry Series. She also reads from Stairway to Heaven (2016) and from uncollected work. This reading was given as part of the Climate Change & Poetry Series.

Elena Passarello reads essays from Animals Strike Curious Poses (2017). This reading was originally given with David Shields.

Aimee Nezhukumatathil reads poems from At the Drive-In Volcano (2007), Lucky Fish (2011), and her forthcoming collection Oceanic (2018).

At the 2017 Thinking Its Presence Conference, members of the MT+NYC Collaborative (Ciara Rose Griffin, William F. Hubbard, Kendra Mylnechuk, Aja M. Sherrard, and Brooke Swaney) perform an early draft of The Buffalo Play, a play written by Ciara Rose Griffin and Kendra Mylnechuk. 

Nicole Walker reads from her essay collection Sustainability: A Love Story (2018).