fatherhood

Richard Wilbur reads poems that will be collected in The Mind Reader (1976) as well as poems from Walking to Sleep (1969). He also reads several translations from both volumes, of poems from the French by Voltaire and François Villon, and from the Russian by Andrei Voznesensky and Nikolai Moishen. 

In this reading with Coleman Barks, Galway Kinnell reads primarily from a manuscript that would be published three years after this reading as Mortal Acts, Mortal Words. He also performs poems written by Christopher Smart and Walt Whitman.

Dean Young reads poems appearing in Elegy on Toy Piano (2005).

University of Arizona alumnus Greg Pape reads from his poetry collections Storm Pattern and Sunflower Facing the Sun, both published in 1992. He also reads several poems that later would be collected in American Flamingo (2005). His selections engage deeply with place—primarily Montana and Arizona—and lives of people within those places.

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.

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."

Reginald Dwayne Betts reads from his poetry collection Bastards of the Reagan Era (2015), along with one uncollected poem.

Angel Nafis reads new work commissioned as part of the Art for Justice Series. This reading was originally given alongside Patricia Smith. Leilani Clark represents BIPOC United Tucson in an opening presentation.

Matthew Zapruder reads poems from his collection Father's Day (2019) and excerpts from his book of criticism Why Poetry (2017). This reading was given at the Center for Creative Photography. 

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. 

Mahogany L. Browne reads poems from her collection I Remember Death By Its Proximity to What I Love (2021) and closes with a guided meditation.

Matthew Zapruder reads poems from Father's Day (2019) and his forthcoming collection I Love Hearing Your Dreams (2024), many of which center on fatherhood, family life, and writing poetry. He opens and closes the reading with excerpts from his memoir Story of a Poem (2023), focused on the act of drafting and revising a poem.

Roger Reeves reads poems from his second book, Best Barbarian (2022), together with a prose excerpt from Dark Days: Fugitive Essays (2023) and new poems. Reeves' work in this reading highlights the violence inherent in the United States—both as an idea and as a reality. His poems and prose frequently include allusions to canonical and contemporary literature, American history and politics, and hip hop.