WEBVTT

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OK.

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And I'm now pleased to introduce
Paul's introducer, Matthew

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Conley.

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Matthew is a poet, a teacher,
a long-time Poetry Center front

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desk volunteer, and
the executive director

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of the Tucson Poetry Festival.

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The festival is an
annual event that

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brings poets to Tucson for
readings, panel discussions,

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and workshops.

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And Matthew has created
a truly killer lineup

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for this year's festival,
which takes place

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in just a few weeks
on April 6 and 7.

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We have to look forward to
Eduardo Corral, Karyna McGlynn,

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Patricia Smith, and our
very own Ander Monson.

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Also-- speaking
of Ander Monson--

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if you haven't gotten
a new DIAGRAM tee,

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they're available on
the DIAGRAM website.

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OK, back to Matthew.

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I just want to say also that
he is a ray of sunshine.

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He is my source for
animal-related internet

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funnies--

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which is really
important because it

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gets me through the
day, and allows me to do

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my work for the Poetry Center.

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He's one of Poetry
Center's favorite people.

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So please help me
welcome Matthew Conley.

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[APPLAUSE]

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Thank you.

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Thank you to you all and to the
Poetry Center for having me.

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Just really quick--

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Today, Cybele and I were
exchanging emails about a site

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that is-- if you're familiar
with the L-O-L cats--

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the LOLcats on the internet.

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Apparently, someone has
created a LOLcat site

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that takes pictures of cats
and combines them with quotes

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from Richard Siken's poetry.

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It's called
icanhassikencats.tumblr.com.

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Paul Guest is the
author of three volumes

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of poetry and one memoir--

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My Index of Slightly
Horrifying Knowledge

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from Echo Press, Notes for My
Body Double from Bison Books,

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The Resurrection of the Body and
the Ruin of the World from New

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Issues, and One More
Theory About Happiness--

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A Memoir from Echo Press.

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The recipient of a 2011
Guggenheim Fellowship

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and a 2007 Whiting
Writers' Award,

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guest teaches in the
Creative Writing Program

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at the University of Virginia.

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His poetry is fierce,
deceptively accessible,

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unapologetic.

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His tools are syntactic,
anaphora, catalog--

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Paul Guest is messing with you.

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He knows you have a comfort
level you can be divested of.

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Here are your
favorite characters

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from our pop culture past.

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They are monstrous, and we
were having fun with them.

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Let us meditate on
that which makes

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us squirm, that
desire for connection

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so secretive and
human and frantic,

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that desire which I
will admit you all have,

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tonight, has met its match.

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Ladies and gentlemen, help
me welcome Paul Guest.

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[APPLAUSE]

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