resistance

Simon J. Ortiz reads poems following the theme that poetry is the voice that we all speak.

Wendy Burk discusses and reads from her translation of Tedi López Mills' Against the Current (2016) and her own first collection of poems, Tree Talks: Southern Arizona (2016). This reading was originally given with Renee Angle.

Giancarlo Huapaya gives a gallery performance related to the exhibit BirúPirúPerú: Collective Projects of Peruvian Visual Poetry, on display at the Poetry Center from August 21 to November 22, 2017. His performance makes use of the inaugural addresses of nine United States Presidents, from Richard Nixon to Donald Trump. 

Poets Odilia Galván Rodríguez and Martín Espada give a reading inspired by the anthology Poetry of Resistance: Voices for Social Justice. Mari Herreras moderates a discussion by the poets after introductory poems are read. This reading was given as part of the 2017 Tucson Humanities Festival.

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.

Ilya Kaminsky reads from Deaf Republic (2019), a parable in poems that considers violence, complicity, resistance, community, and intimacy. Set in a fictional town under occupation, the narrative opens with the murder of a young boy by a soldier. Kaminsky reads primarily from the book's first act, which follows a pregnant woman and her husband as the soldiers' violence against the town escalates. This reading was originally given with Katie Farris.

Kimberly Blaeser reads from Ancient Light (2024), her sixth poetry collection, which reflects on the effects of colonization and searches for ways that all people can survive, heal, and thrive. Blaeser closes with several poems from an earlier collection, Copper Yearning (2019), as well as one uncollected poem. Throughout, major themes include water, kinship, witnessing to loss, and solidarity in community.