youth

In Louise Glück's first performance at the University of Arizona Poetry Center, she opens with some poems from her third book, The Garden, and then reads from the manuscript of her book Descending Figure, which would be published two years later.

James Tate reads from his first collection, The Lost Pilot (1967), along with poems that would be collected in The Oblivion Ha-Ha (1970).

John Williams reads from three novels: Butcher's Crossing (1978), Stoner (1965), and Augustus (1972).

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.

Louise Glück reads from her 2001 collection of poems The Seven Ages. This reading was originally given with Dana Levin. 

Elizabeth Evans reads excerpts from her third novel, Rowing in Eden.

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.

On the eve of his 75th birthday, Robert Penn Warren reads from Promises: Poems 1954-1956 (1957), Incarnations: Poems 1966-1968 (1968), Or Else: Poem/Poems 1968-1974 (1974), Now and Then: Poems 1976-1978 (1978), and Being Here: Poetry 1977-1980 (1980).

Just after joining the University of Arizona faculty, Elizabeth Evans reads the first chapter of an unpublished manuscript titled Ancient History, parts of which went on to be included in her novel Rowing in Eden (2000).

Elizabeth Evans reads from the first and fifth chapter of The Blue Hour (1995). She opens her performance by reading a poem by W. B. Yeats, "Adam's Curse."

Tim O'Brien reads a chapter from his novel The Nuclear Age, which would be published three years after this reading.

Houston Baker reads widely from his work, including poems from No Matter Where You Travel, You Still Be Black (1979), Spirit Run (1982), and Blues Journeys Home (1985).

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

Alan Cheuse reads from his novel The Light Possessed (1990), inspired by the life of Georgia O'Keefe and several other U.S. women painters. The novel's title comes from a poem by Walt Whitman, "A Prairie Sunset," which Cheuse reads as an introduction to his own work. Cheuse's novel has "two beginnings," and he reads both: the first is a chapter titled "River."

Poetry Center Summer Resident Hieu Minh Nguyen reads poems from This Way to the Sugar (2014) as well as new and uncollected work. This reading was originally given with Matt Bell.