WEBVTT

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Lots of people to quickly
introduce, so here goes.

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David Baker is here.

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We're really excited
that David's here.

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He's the author of 11 books
of poetry, most recently,

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the wonderful collection
Scavenger Loop,

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which is for sale over here
at the table on my right,

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as well as the collections
Never-Ending Birds which

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won the Theater Rookie Memorial
Prize for Poetry in 2011.

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Five books of prose include
Show Me Your Environment:

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Essays on Poetry, Poets, and
Poems, and with Ann Townsend,

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the collection Radiant Lyre:
Essays on Lyric Poetry.

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It's a great title,
Radiant Lyre.

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I think my wife
has called me that.

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Among these awards are prizes
and grants from the Guggenheim

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Foundation, the National
Endowment for the Arts,

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the Mellon Foundation, and the
Society of Midland Authors.

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He holds the Thomas
B. Fordham Chair

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at Denison University
in Granville, Ohio.

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And he's the poetry editor
of the Kenyon Review

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where I first met David when
I was working there prior

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to coming here to Tucson
to the Poetry Center.

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Behind me are many
amazing people

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with amazing instruments.

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This is the River Song Quintet.

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It's a chamber ensemble and a
composer/performer collective

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whose music draws from the
interest and influences

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of its members
merging the worlds

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of western-classical chamber
music, art song, jazz

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and improvisation, and the
folk diaspora of music.

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River Song Quintet's
members include--

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I'm going to do my best--

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Alina Roitstein on voice,
Lauren Baba, violin and viola,

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Andrew Rowan on cornet,
Harrison Kirk on trombone,

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Gregory Uhlmann on guitar.

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Their first full-length
album Monarchs

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was released in August, 2014.

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It can be previewed
online, and it will be

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for sale later-- is that right?

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For sale over here on the
left, if you want to buy it.

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It's a fabulous album, so
you can hear it online.

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I encourage you to purchase it.

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It features a gorgeous
art song composition

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of monarchs landing
and flying, a poem

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of David's, the lead poem in
his collection Midwest Eclogue.

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It's a really beautiful piece.

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So I encourage you to
enjoy tonight and then

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go over there and purchase
some of the music.

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We all have cars
with CD players.

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They need CDs.

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Together, they'll
be performing again

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with David in multiple ways.

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They have-- this is not the
first time this has happened.

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They've collaborated
together in other places,

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but we're really excited
to see this iteration.

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Each one is different.

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You can expect to hear
some poetry only tonight,

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some poetry and guitar,
some music only,

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and then some poetry
with the full quintet.

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So it'll be a range-y mix moving
across different formations.

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For last things, I just
want to say quickly

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about David Baker that
can't be captured in a bio.

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He's one of the most genuine and
most generous readers of poetry

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that I know.

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And this informs his work at
the Kenyon Review in ways that

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are compelling and magical.

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And I was lucky to
see this firsthand.

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It informs his interest
in mentorship with poets.

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His excitement when
he finds a poet who's

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done something remarkable
in a poem and his desire

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to champion that work or
find ways to advocate for it,

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to write about it, to
promote it, to publish it.

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So be excited that we're
with someone tonight

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with that sort of sensibility.

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It's been amazing
for me to work around

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that at the Kenyon Review.

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And I'm so thrilled that
he's here in Tucson.

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He has one of the most
gorgeous work ethics

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that I've ever seen in a poet.

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And what I love
about this particular

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is that his poems
are like stamps that

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show the work that's made them.

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I appreciate this
in his work, the way

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that they reveal
themselves, and the way

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that this ethic of fidelity
to the word or to language

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to reworking poems
and reworking poems.

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This is something that I've
loved about David's work

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for a long, long time.

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If you like another baseball
team besides the Arizona

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Cardinals, don't mess with him.

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I'm sorry, St. Louis Cardinals.

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Arizona Cardinals are
a different sport.

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[LAUGHS] Whoo!

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St. Louis Cardinals.

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You can say whatever you want
about the Arizona Cardinals,

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but he and his father
will outroot you

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whatever baseball team it is.

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So don't mess with
them about this.

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It's almost baseball season.

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And the last thing
I just want to say,

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there's a quality of attention
paid in David's poems

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that I think is very
rare and special

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and that I care
about enormously.

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It's something that I've
thought about in his poems when

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I've read them.

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I've come back to
for the pleasure

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of seeing David read,
many times, never

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with a wonderful
backing quintet.

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That quality of attention paid
is so rare and so special,

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and it's just-- it's
important and exciting to me

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to acknowledge this.

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I'm grateful to welcome
my friend, David Baker,

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coming from Ohio to
join us this evening.

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Thank you, David.

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[APPLAUSE]