mortality

Mark Doty reads poems from his third book, My Alexandria (1993), together with poems that would be published two years later in Atlantis (1995). Reflections on the act of description recur throughout the poems, which inhabit Provincetown, Boston, and New York City. Doty also reads one poem set in Tucson from his second book, Bethlehem in Broad Daylight (1991).

Robert C.S. Downs gives his first public reading before joining the University of Arizona creative writing faculty for the fall semester. He reads from his first two novels, Going Gently (1973) and Peoples (1974), which was unpublished at the time of the reading.

Paul Zimmer reads from The Republic of Many Voices (1969), along with poems that would be published in The Zimmer Poems (1976) or remain uncollected. Making use of persona, narrative, and humor, he addresses topics such as childhood, identity, and mortality.

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

In his first visit to Tucson, Franz Wright reads prose pieces, most of which were unpublished at the time of his reading, as well as several lineated poems. He comments generously on his writing process and friendships with other poets.

Luis Alberto Urrea reads from Across the Wire: Life and Hard Times on the Mexican Border (1993), The Fever of Being (1994), Wandering Time: Western Notebooks (1999), and also from The Best American Poetry (1996).

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

Rigoberto González reads from So Often the Pitcher Goes to Water until It Breaks (1999) and Other Fugitives and Other Strangers (2006). This reading was originally given with Gary Soto.

Tommy Pico reads from his book-length poems Junk (2018), published the year of this reading, and Feed (2019), published the year after this reading. He also reads one poem from Morgan Parker's There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé (2017). This reading was originally given with Morgan Parker as part of the Morgan Lucas Schuldt Memorial Reading Series.

Shayla Lawz reads from her book speculation, n. (2021), which revolves around survival and Black life amidst police violence within the age of social media and the 24/7 news cycle. Lawz creates a unique performed version of her book through repetition and distortions not present on the page. This reading was originally given alongside Aria Aber as part of the Morgan Lucas Schuldt Memorial Reading Series.

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.

Jane Hirshfield reads from her ninth collection of poems, Ledger (2020), which meditates on the cascading effects of climate change and the griefs of contemporary human life. In recognition of National Poetry Month, she opens with "The Poet" from The Lives of the Heart (1997) and selections from The Ink Dark Moon (1988), her translations of Classical Period Japanese poets Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu. She closes with uncollected new work.

Charif Shanahan reads from his second collection of poetry, Trace Evidence (2023), which considers mixed-race identity and the construction of race alongside the struggle to find and make meaning in one's life.

John Murillo, the Poetry Center's spring poet in residence, reads from Up Jump the Boogie (2010) and Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry (2020). His poems—many of them long poems—consider masculinity, the divide between boyhood and manhood, violence, and the ways we construct our sense of self.

Dana Levin reads from her fifth book, Now Do You Know Where You Are (2022), sharing poems written during a time of anxiety about the future that engage with the body, philosophy, grief, and healing. She closes by reading "House of Feels," an essay from her memoir in progress about becoming a poet.