WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.430 align:middle line:84%
Thank you for coming
out, bright and early,

00:00:02.430 --> 00:00:05.650 align:middle line:90%
for poetry on a Sunday morning.

00:00:05.650 --> 00:00:08.310 align:middle line:84%
Welcome to the second annual
Tucson Festival of Books.

00:00:08.310 --> 00:00:10.080 align:middle line:84%
My name is Cybele
Knowles, and I'll

00:00:10.080 --> 00:00:12.120 align:middle line:84%
be introducing the
poetry reading this hour

00:00:12.120 --> 00:00:14.070 align:middle line:90%
here at the Poetry Stage.

00:00:14.070 --> 00:00:15.750 align:middle line:84%
For sponsoring this
venue, I'd like

00:00:15.750 --> 00:00:18.900 align:middle line:84%
to thank the University of
Arizona Poetry Center, Chax

00:00:18.900 --> 00:00:23.010 align:middle line:84%
Press, Pog, Sonora Review, Casa
Libre, and the Tucson Poetry

00:00:23.010 --> 00:00:23.910 align:middle line:90%
Festival.

00:00:23.910 --> 00:00:27.660 align:middle line:84%
Representatives from all these
local literary organizations

00:00:27.660 --> 00:00:32.009 align:middle line:84%
work together for about
a year to put together

00:00:32.009 --> 00:00:34.560 align:middle line:84%
the really wonderful schedule
that we've been presenting here

00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:35.820 align:middle line:90%
at the Poetry Stage.

00:00:35.820 --> 00:00:38.400 align:middle line:84%
It's been a great
collaborative effort,

00:00:38.400 --> 00:00:43.930 align:middle line:90%
and we just got a great result.

00:00:43.930 --> 00:00:46.660 align:middle line:84%
OK, in this hour I'm very
pleased to present poets

00:00:46.660 --> 00:00:50.080 align:middle line:84%
Jonathan Rothschild
and Pamela Uschuk.

00:00:50.080 --> 00:00:52.820 align:middle line:84%
This presentation will last
approximately one hour,

00:00:52.820 --> 00:00:54.500 align:middle line:90%
including a short Q&A session.

00:00:54.500 --> 00:00:57.760 align:middle line:84%
So please hold your
questions until the end.

00:00:57.760 --> 00:01:01.390 align:middle line:84%
After the reading, poets
will be signing here

00:01:01.390 --> 00:01:02.830 align:middle line:90%
for a little while.

00:01:02.830 --> 00:01:05.470 align:middle line:84%
We have their books
for sale, courtesy

00:01:05.470 --> 00:01:06.935 align:middle line:90%
of UA bookstores over there.

00:01:06.935 --> 00:01:08.560 align:middle line:84%
Thank you very much,
U of A bookstores,

00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:11.140 align:middle line:84%
for being here for
the whole fest.

00:01:11.140 --> 00:01:13.420 align:middle line:84%
Also, they'll be-- after
that, they'll be going

00:01:13.420 --> 00:01:14.860 align:middle line:90%
to the Madden--

00:01:14.860 --> 00:01:18.520 align:middle line:84%
Madden Media signing
area 1, tent C.

00:01:18.520 --> 00:01:20.980 align:middle line:84%
And that's just south of
this building over there.

00:01:20.980 --> 00:01:24.640 align:middle line:84%
And their books are for
sale over there, as well,

00:01:24.640 --> 00:01:27.430 align:middle line:90%
courtesy of Mostly Books.

00:01:27.430 --> 00:01:29.620 align:middle line:90%
And yeah.

00:01:29.620 --> 00:01:31.915 align:middle line:84%
They'll be available
there for about half hour.

00:01:31.915 --> 00:01:34.570 align:middle line:90%


00:01:34.570 --> 00:01:35.260 align:middle line:90%
OK.

00:01:35.260 --> 00:01:38.650 align:middle line:84%
And they will be happy to meet
you there and sign your books.

00:01:38.650 --> 00:01:42.280 align:middle line:84%
OK, so let me go ahead and
introduce our first reader,

00:01:42.280 --> 00:01:43.930 align:middle line:90%
Jonathan Rothschild.

00:01:43.930 --> 00:01:46.000 align:middle line:84%
This mic is just,
like, in my way.

00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:48.100 align:middle line:90%
OK.

00:01:48.100 --> 00:01:51.500 align:middle line:84%
Jonathan was born, raised,
and live-- born, raised,

00:01:51.500 --> 00:01:52.930 align:middle line:90%
and lives in Tucson, Arizona.

00:01:52.930 --> 00:01:56.140 align:middle line:84%
He was educated at Tulane
University, Kenyon College,

00:01:56.140 --> 00:01:58.030 align:middle line:84%
and the University
of New Mexico.

00:01:58.030 --> 00:02:00.640 align:middle line:84%
He divides his time
between work as an attorney

00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:03.790 align:middle line:84%
and his family Karen,
Isaac, Nathan, and Molly,

00:02:03.790 --> 00:02:06.970 align:middle line:84%
and volunteering and
community affairs.

00:02:06.970 --> 00:02:10.300 align:middle line:84%
The Last Clubhouse Eulogy
is his first book of poetry.

00:02:10.300 --> 00:02:12.580 align:middle line:90%
That's a great title.

00:02:12.580 --> 00:02:15.760 align:middle line:84%
Jonathan is also a member of
the American Academy of Poets

00:02:15.760 --> 00:02:18.340 align:middle line:84%
and the Poetry
Society of America.

00:02:18.340 --> 00:02:21.460 align:middle line:84%
I just wanted to also
introduce his words

00:02:21.460 --> 00:02:25.810 align:middle line:84%
with a few words from his
publisher, Charles Alexander,

00:02:25.810 --> 00:02:28.180 align:middle line:90%
about Jonathan's writing.

00:02:28.180 --> 00:02:31.420 align:middle line:84%
"Looking at the past and present
with a glass clear as memory

00:02:31.420 --> 00:02:33.550 align:middle line:84%
and sharp as a razor
blade, the lens

00:02:33.550 --> 00:02:36.430 align:middle line:84%
allows truth and beauty,
and untruth and unbeauty.

00:02:36.430 --> 00:02:39.850 align:middle line:84%
The razor blade saves everything
from becoming sweet memory.

00:02:39.850 --> 00:02:42.640 align:middle line:84%
Jonathan Rothschild's
debut is a rare book

00:02:42.640 --> 00:02:44.080 align:middle line:90%
in that it sees everyone.

00:02:44.080 --> 00:02:47.590 align:middle line:84%
The grandfather wondering what
has become of what he has made,

00:02:47.590 --> 00:02:51.190 align:middle line:84%
the grandmother lost in a
haze of faulty neural inputs.

00:02:51.190 --> 00:02:54.130 align:middle line:84%
The parents who connect and
stray and have problems as well

00:02:54.130 --> 00:02:57.550 align:middle line:84%
as successes, but somehow,
through it all, care deeply.

00:02:57.550 --> 00:03:00.100 align:middle line:84%
And the children,
always the children,

00:03:00.100 --> 00:03:02.500 align:middle line:84%
who can't quite provide
hope, because a lens

00:03:02.500 --> 00:03:05.680 align:middle line:84%
is too clear to get sentimental
about the possibilities of life

00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:06.640 align:middle line:90%
facing them.

00:03:06.640 --> 00:03:09.280 align:middle line:84%
This is a poetry that embraces
everything and doesn't

00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:10.660 align:middle line:90%
lie about any of it.

00:03:10.660 --> 00:03:14.380 align:middle line:84%
Clear language, clear
vision, love and truth.

00:03:14.380 --> 00:03:17.170 align:middle line:84%
Please join me in welcoming
Jonathan Rothschild.

00:03:17.170 --> 00:03:19.620 align:middle line:90%
[APPLAUSE]

00:03:19.620 --> 00:03:23.000 align:middle line:90%