tucson

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).

Alan Dugan reads from his first four books of poems; he also reads unpublished poems and poems that would go on to appear in New and Collected Poems (1983).

Ofelia Zepeda reads from Where Clouds Are Formed (2008). This reading was originally given with Christopher Burawa.

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

Ofelia Zepeda reads from her collection Where Clouds Are Formed (2008). This reading was originally given with Luci Tapahonso. 

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

Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild reads from his first book, The Last Clubhouse Eulogy (2009), for students at this matinee reading.

Special guest Logan Phillips performs his poetry for the Southern Arizona Poetry Out Loud Regional Finals Competition.

Carl Marcum reads poems from his first collection, Cue Lazarus (2001), as well as new and uncollected work.

Felipe S. Molina speaks about the traditions of the Pascua Yaqui people during Holy Week. The program includes testimonies from Jenny Murrieta, Susana Garcia, and Minnie Valenzuela, discussing their cultural backgrounds, family, and the spiritual time of Cuaresma.

Elizabeth Evans reads from her novel As Good As Dead (2015).

Poetry Center Interim Director Mark Wunderlich and Events Coordinator Karen Falkenstrom talk about the history of the Poetry Center from 1960 to 1995 on The Topic of Tucson, hosted by Vicki Doyle. They discuss the art of poetry and read a few favorite poems from writers in the Poetry Center's 1995-1996 reading series.

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.

Brenda Hillman reads poems related to climate change from Cascadia (2001), Practical Water (2009), and Seasonal Works with Letters on Fire (2013). She also reads a new sequence of poems titled "The Rosewood Clauses." This reading was originally given with Robert Hass as part of the Climate Change & Poetry Series.

Thomas Mira y Lopez reads from his essay collection The Book of Resting Places: A Personal History of Where We Lay the Dead (2018). This reading was originally given with Francisco Cantú and Sylvia Chan. 

Francisco Cantú reads from his essay collection The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border (2018). This reading was originally given with Sylvia Chan and Thomas Mira y Lopez. 

A playlist of poems about Tucson.

Carl Marcum reads poems from his second collection, A Camera Obscura (2021), primarily focused on the night sky and space exploration. He also reads two poems from his first collection, Cue Lazarus (2001), in addition to two poems from a manuscript in progress. This reading was originally given alongside Laurie Ann Guerrero as part of the Tom Sanders Memorial Reading Series.

Adam O. Davis reads from his first book, Index of Haunted Houses (2020), which inhabits the ghostly landscape of American capitalism. He closes with several poems from an unpublished manuscript. This reading was originally given with Manuel Paul López.

As part of the Terrain.org 25th Anniversary reading, Julie Swarstad Johnson reads poems that consider the night sky, astronomy, and place. She primarily reads from a sequence of epistolary poems titled "Night Letters," and she opens with one poem from Pennsylvania Furnace (2019). This reading was originally given alongside Derek Sheffield and Allison Adelle Hedge Coke.

Brenda Hillman reads from In a Few Minutes Before Later (2022), her eleventh collection of poetry, including poems set during the COVID-19 pandemic. She briefly discusses her translation—done in collaboration with her mother—of Brazilian poet Ana Cristina Cesar, and closes with two new poems focused on her mother's garden and her childhood home.

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.