WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.230 align:middle line:90%
How is everybody?

00:00:01.230 --> 00:00:01.940 align:middle line:90%
Good.

00:00:01.940 --> 00:00:02.440 align:middle line:90%
Good?

00:00:02.440 --> 00:00:02.770 align:middle line:90%
Great.

00:00:02.770 --> 00:00:03.060 align:middle line:90%
Good.

00:00:03.060 --> 00:00:04.852 align:middle line:84%
You've made the right
choice on a Thursday.

00:00:04.852 --> 00:00:06.390 align:middle line:90%
Thanks for being here.

00:00:06.390 --> 00:00:09.630 align:middle line:84%
You may always-- I always wonder
if I made the right choice.

00:00:09.630 --> 00:00:10.860 align:middle line:90%
You made the right choice.

00:00:10.860 --> 00:00:13.485 align:middle line:90%
Be affirmed in your rightness.

00:00:13.485 --> 00:00:14.860 align:middle line:84%
I'm really glad
everybody's here.

00:00:14.860 --> 00:00:16.930 align:middle line:84%
Thanks for coming to the
Poetry Center tonight.

00:00:16.930 --> 00:00:17.740 align:middle line:90%
My name is Tyler.

00:00:17.740 --> 00:00:20.760 align:middle line:84%
I work here as the executive
director at the Poetry Center.

00:00:20.760 --> 00:00:23.610 align:middle line:84%
It's a lovely night to
have a poetry reading.

00:00:23.610 --> 00:00:27.240 align:middle line:84%
And Tucson is just starting
to really do its spring thing

00:00:27.240 --> 00:00:28.480 align:middle line:90%
in the right way.

00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:31.442 align:middle line:84%
So we get to celebrate
that together.

00:00:31.442 --> 00:00:33.900 align:middle line:84%
And we get to celebrate that
by having Natalie Shapero here

00:00:33.900 --> 00:00:35.580 align:middle line:84%
with us to read
poems to us, which

00:00:35.580 --> 00:00:38.190 align:middle line:84%
is a lucky occurrence
from a poet

00:00:38.190 --> 00:00:39.720 align:middle line:84%
that I admire and
really care about

00:00:39.720 --> 00:00:41.760 align:middle line:84%
and whose work I
love very, very much.

00:00:41.760 --> 00:00:43.770 align:middle line:84%
So I'm happy to have
this happening here

00:00:43.770 --> 00:00:45.330 align:middle line:90%
at the Poetry Center.

00:00:45.330 --> 00:00:47.788 align:middle line:84%
But before we start and before
I tell you a little bit more

00:00:47.788 --> 00:00:49.830 align:middle line:84%
about Natalie, I
wanted to just remind

00:00:49.830 --> 00:00:51.660 align:middle line:84%
you of some things that are
coming up at the Poetry Center.

00:00:51.660 --> 00:00:54.200 align:middle line:84%
So if you ever wonder, what's
going on at the Poetry Center?

00:00:54.200 --> 00:00:55.420 align:middle line:90%
How do I learn more about it?

00:00:55.420 --> 00:00:59.468 align:middle line:84%
One is to be proactive and find
it all online, which exists.

00:00:59.468 --> 00:01:00.510 align:middle line:90%
And you can come find it.

00:01:00.510 --> 00:01:02.520 align:middle line:84%
Or you can take
this piece of paper,

00:01:02.520 --> 00:01:04.500 align:middle line:84%
which there are
many of over here

00:01:04.500 --> 00:01:06.660 align:middle line:84%
in the trifold
format, that tells you

00:01:06.660 --> 00:01:09.750 align:middle line:84%
everything that's happening at
the Poetry Center this spring.

00:01:09.750 --> 00:01:11.670 align:middle line:84%
And of those things
that are coming, up

00:01:11.670 --> 00:01:13.540 align:middle line:90%
we have two readings.

00:01:13.540 --> 00:01:17.190 align:middle line:84%
One on March 21st that
features two poets.

00:01:17.190 --> 00:01:19.920 align:middle line:84%
I'm going to make sure I say
the right date, March 21st.

00:01:19.920 --> 00:01:22.200 align:middle line:84%
Patrick Rosal and
Evie Shockley, who

00:01:22.200 --> 00:01:24.480 align:middle line:84%
are coming in the
continuation of a series

00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:26.340 align:middle line:84%
that we have in
the Art for Justice

00:01:26.340 --> 00:01:28.020 align:middle line:84%
Project here at
the Poetry Center.

00:01:28.020 --> 00:01:29.740 align:middle line:84%
And if you don't know
about that series,

00:01:29.740 --> 00:01:33.510 align:middle line:84%
this is a series
that's investigating

00:01:33.510 --> 00:01:36.130 align:middle line:84%
a relationship between
language that we use,

00:01:36.130 --> 00:01:38.100 align:middle line:84%
the work that poets
do with language,

00:01:38.100 --> 00:01:42.120 align:middle line:84%
and the American addiction
to mass incarceration.

00:01:42.120 --> 00:01:45.120 align:middle line:84%
And so we're really excited
about the work that's

00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:46.860 align:middle line:90%
happening in this series.

00:01:46.860 --> 00:01:49.710 align:middle line:84%
And Evie and Patrick will
both be premiering new poems

00:01:49.710 --> 00:01:53.940 align:middle line:84%
that they've written for that
project with us in Tucson.

00:01:53.940 --> 00:01:55.800 align:middle line:84%
On the heels of
that, on April 4th,

00:01:55.800 --> 00:01:58.860 align:middle line:84%
we have the last reading of that
in this reading series year.

00:01:58.860 --> 00:02:01.170 align:middle line:84%
And that's with the
poet Natalie Diaz,

00:02:01.170 --> 00:02:03.750 align:middle line:84%
who will be here also
reading within that project

00:02:03.750 --> 00:02:05.880 align:middle line:84%
in the scope of that
project and reading new work

00:02:05.880 --> 00:02:10.289 align:middle line:84%
that she has prepared for Tucson
for this visit in connection

00:02:10.289 --> 00:02:11.310 align:middle line:90%
to that project.

00:02:11.310 --> 00:02:12.480 align:middle line:90%
Very powerful readings.

00:02:12.480 --> 00:02:14.400 align:middle line:84%
Really amazing work
that's been happening.

00:02:14.400 --> 00:02:17.880 align:middle line:84%
And we're really
excited about it.

00:02:17.880 --> 00:02:20.130 align:middle line:84%
Natalie is here just to
read her amazing poems.

00:02:20.130 --> 00:02:22.230 align:middle line:90%
And we're so grateful for this.

00:02:22.230 --> 00:02:26.040 align:middle line:84%
And so to help introduce her,
I'm calling on some other poets

00:02:26.040 --> 00:02:28.140 align:middle line:90%
to help me to recognize her.

00:02:28.140 --> 00:02:31.660 align:middle line:84%
And so we'll quickly skip to
Poland together right now.

00:02:31.660 --> 00:02:32.160 align:middle line:90%
Ready?

00:02:32.160 --> 00:02:32.940 align:middle line:90%
Here we go.

00:02:32.940 --> 00:02:35.250 align:middle line:90%
Whoosh.

00:02:35.250 --> 00:02:38.640 align:middle line:84%
The Polish poet and Nobel
Laureate Wislawa Szymborska,

00:02:38.640 --> 00:02:42.630 align:middle line:84%
for some time, kept an advice
column and literary life,

00:02:42.630 --> 00:02:44.940 align:middle line:84%
a Polish newspaper,
where she responded

00:02:44.940 --> 00:02:49.020 align:middle line:84%
to letters that would come in
over the transom unsolicited.

00:02:49.020 --> 00:02:51.900 align:middle line:84%
Her responses showed
her crisp fidelity

00:02:51.900 --> 00:02:54.480 align:middle line:84%
to a sense of orderliness
and earnestness

00:02:54.480 --> 00:02:57.310 align:middle line:84%
in both the poem and
the poet, as well as

00:02:57.310 --> 00:02:59.010 align:middle line:84%
a kind of tongue-in-cheek
generosity

00:02:59.010 --> 00:03:02.880 align:middle line:84%
towards writers who were just
beginning to find their way.

00:03:02.880 --> 00:03:05.430 align:middle line:84%
Reading her advice
in this column,

00:03:05.430 --> 00:03:09.600 align:middle line:84%
you can get a firm sense of
both Szymborska's deep affection

00:03:09.600 --> 00:03:13.440 align:middle line:84%
for a dedication to craft
that a real effort at poetry

00:03:13.440 --> 00:03:17.970 align:middle line:84%
requires of us and also
her interest in poetry

00:03:17.970 --> 00:03:22.110 align:middle line:84%
as a way of being in the world,
something beyond vocation,

00:03:22.110 --> 00:03:26.080 align:middle line:84%
something more about how
it is to be a person,

00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:29.940 align:middle line:84%
a kind of prescription for being
underneath the seer of the sky

00:03:29.940 --> 00:03:35.790 align:middle line:84%
or a codex for the blues that
occasionally inhabit all of us.

00:03:35.790 --> 00:03:38.880 align:middle line:84%
Clare Kavanagh has translated
many of Szymborska's responses

00:03:38.880 --> 00:03:41.970 align:middle line:84%
from this paper and published
them on the Poetry Foundation's

00:03:41.970 --> 00:03:42.690 align:middle line:90%
website.

00:03:42.690 --> 00:03:43.710 align:middle line:90%
Does anybody know these?

00:03:43.710 --> 00:03:45.990 align:middle line:90%
Has anybody seen these before?

00:03:45.990 --> 00:03:46.560 align:middle line:90%
No?

00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:47.640 align:middle line:90%
You have to find them.

00:03:47.640 --> 00:03:48.630 align:middle line:90%
They're amazing.

00:03:48.630 --> 00:03:51.540 align:middle line:84%
It'll be the best
Google of your life.

00:03:51.540 --> 00:03:53.260 align:middle line:90%
They're just amazing.

00:03:53.260 --> 00:03:55.300 align:middle line:90%
So here's a few of them.

00:03:55.300 --> 00:03:57.420 align:middle line:84%
And so this is what
Szymborska is saying through

00:03:57.420 --> 00:04:02.260 align:middle line:84%
the translator Clare
Kavanagh to ZB from Poznań.

00:04:02.260 --> 00:04:04.890 align:middle line:84%
And Szymborska
says, you've managed

00:04:04.890 --> 00:04:07.770 align:middle line:84%
to squeeze more lofty words
into three short poems

00:04:07.770 --> 00:04:10.050 align:middle line:84%
than most poets
manage in a lifetime.

00:04:10.050 --> 00:04:13.620 align:middle line:84%
Fatherland, truth,
freedom, justice,

00:04:13.620 --> 00:04:15.630 align:middle line:90%
such words won't come cheap.

00:04:15.630 --> 00:04:18.060 align:middle line:84%
Real blood flows
through them, which

00:04:18.060 --> 00:04:21.390 align:middle line:90%
can't be counterfeited in ink.

00:04:21.390 --> 00:04:23.370 align:middle line:90%
That's one of them.

00:04:23.370 --> 00:04:27.030 align:middle line:84%
To EL in Warsaw,
she says, perhaps

00:04:27.030 --> 00:04:28.545 align:middle line:84%
you could learn
to love in prose.

00:04:28.545 --> 00:04:34.080 align:middle line:90%


00:04:34.080 --> 00:04:35.940 align:middle line:84%
Perhaps really good
advice for this poet.

00:04:35.940 --> 00:04:36.900 align:middle line:90%
We can't know.

00:04:36.900 --> 00:04:39.580 align:middle line:84%
The original sort of
queries we don't know.

00:04:39.580 --> 00:04:42.530 align:middle line:84%
We just know the responses
in this translation.

00:04:42.530 --> 00:04:43.530 align:middle line:90%
But this is my favorite.

00:04:43.530 --> 00:04:45.697 align:middle line:84%
And this is what I hope to
speak about this evening.

00:04:45.697 --> 00:04:49.860 align:middle line:84%
So this is to someone named
Esko, who I care about a lot

00:04:49.860 --> 00:04:51.790 align:middle line:90%
through this response.

00:04:51.790 --> 00:04:53.190 align:middle line:84%
I don't know
anything about Esko,

00:04:53.190 --> 00:04:57.930 align:middle line:84%
except this exchange
in Sieradz in Poland.

00:04:57.930 --> 00:05:00.830 align:middle line:84%
And Szymborska
says, youth really

00:05:00.830 --> 00:05:03.140 align:middle line:84%
is an intriguing
period in one's life.

00:05:03.140 --> 00:05:06.350 align:middle line:84%
If one adds writely ambitions
to the difficulties of youth,

00:05:06.350 --> 00:05:08.780 align:middle line:84%
one must possess an
exceptionally strong

00:05:08.780 --> 00:05:11.240 align:middle line:90%
constitution in order to cope.

00:05:11.240 --> 00:05:15.890 align:middle line:84%
Its components should include
persistence, diligence,

00:05:15.890 --> 00:05:19.520 align:middle line:84%
wide reading,
curiosity, observation,

00:05:19.520 --> 00:05:24.140 align:middle line:84%
distance towards oneself,
sensitivity to others,

00:05:24.140 --> 00:05:27.110 align:middle line:84%
a critical mind,
a sense of humor,

00:05:27.110 --> 00:05:30.260 align:middle line:84%
and an abiding conviction
that the world deserves,

00:05:30.260 --> 00:05:35.480 align:middle line:84%
A, to keep existing, and,
B, better luck than it's had

00:05:35.480 --> 00:05:38.600 align:middle line:90%
thus far.

00:05:38.600 --> 00:05:42.530 align:middle line:84%
It's an amazing job description
for a poet and one worth

00:05:42.530 --> 00:05:45.200 align:middle line:84%
applying for, a job that
requires all of these things,

00:05:45.200 --> 00:05:48.440 align:middle line:84%
persistence, diligence,
wide reading, curiosity,

00:05:48.440 --> 00:05:51.080 align:middle line:84%
observation, an
abiding conviction

00:05:51.080 --> 00:05:53.630 align:middle line:84%
that the world deserves
to keep existing,

00:05:53.630 --> 00:05:57.890 align:middle line:84%
and that it deserves better
luck than it's had so far.

00:05:57.890 --> 00:06:01.140 align:middle line:84%
If any poet and her work
lives up to such a tall order,

00:06:01.140 --> 00:06:04.040 align:middle line:84%
it's Natalie Shapero and
her delightful poems,

00:06:04.040 --> 00:06:06.590 align:middle line:84%
which can brilliantly
shapeshift as they wink

00:06:06.590 --> 00:06:11.660 align:middle line:84%
and swoon down the creep of
the page towards their endings.

00:06:11.660 --> 00:06:14.600 align:middle line:84%
Author of the books No Object,
which won the Great Lakes

00:06:14.600 --> 00:06:16.700 align:middle line:84%
College Association
new writers award,

00:06:16.700 --> 00:06:19.220 align:middle line:84%
and the book Hard Child,
which was shortlisted

00:06:19.220 --> 00:06:21.530 align:middle line:84%
for the international
Griffin Poetry Prize,

00:06:21.530 --> 00:06:24.560 align:middle line:84%
Shapero has received fellowships
from the National Endowment

00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:28.100 align:middle line:84%
for the Arts, the Poetry
Foundation, the Kenyon Review,

00:06:28.100 --> 00:06:31.310 align:middle line:84%
and the Center for the
Humanities at Tufts.

00:06:31.310 --> 00:06:32.610 align:middle line:90%
And I'm sorry.

00:06:32.610 --> 00:06:35.630 align:middle line:84%
Natalie holds degrees in
creative writing and law.

00:06:35.630 --> 00:06:37.580 align:middle line:84%
And she has worked as
a litigation Fellow

00:06:37.580 --> 00:06:41.870 align:middle line:84%
with Americans United for the
Separation of Church and State.

00:06:41.870 --> 00:06:44.150 align:middle line:84%
She's currently a
professor of the practice

00:06:44.150 --> 00:06:46.850 align:middle line:90%
of poetry at Tufts University.

00:06:46.850 --> 00:06:48.740 align:middle line:84%
I would like to assert
in front of all of you

00:06:48.740 --> 00:06:51.320 align:middle line:84%
tonight as many witnesses
that, if the Poetry Center ever

00:06:51.320 --> 00:06:55.190 align:middle line:84%
starts a newspaper of any kind,
that we would like the advice

00:06:55.190 --> 00:06:58.340 align:middle line:90%
columnist to be Natalie Shapero.

00:06:58.340 --> 00:07:01.970 align:middle line:84%
And you'll see why
after this reading.

00:07:01.970 --> 00:07:05.000 align:middle line:84%
I hope you'll join me in
welcoming Natalie back

00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:06.582 align:middle line:90%
to Tucson for a visit tonight.

00:07:06.582 --> 00:07:07.790 align:middle line:90%
And thank you for being here.

00:07:07.790 --> 00:07:10.694 align:middle line:90%
[APPLAUSE]

00:07:10.694 --> 00:07:16.020 align:middle line:90%


00:07:16.020 --> 00:07:17.730 align:middle line:90%
Hello.

00:07:17.730 --> 00:07:21.090 align:middle line:84%
Thank you for that amazing
introduction, Tyler.

00:07:21.090 --> 00:07:22.840 align:middle line:90%
All my advice is terrible.

00:07:22.840 --> 00:07:25.570 align:middle line:90%
But I will still do it.

00:07:25.570 --> 00:07:26.070 align:middle line:90%
No.

00:07:26.070 --> 00:07:28.200 align:middle line:84%
I'm so like I'm
so grateful to be

00:07:28.200 --> 00:07:33.150 align:middle line:84%
here and grateful to Tyler and
everyone at the Poetry Center.

00:07:33.150 --> 00:07:35.040 align:middle line:90%
I really I love Tucson.

00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:39.130 align:middle line:84%
And I can feel the good
literary energy here.

00:07:39.130 --> 00:07:44.270 align:middle line:84%
I'm very excited to be reading
some poems to you all tonight.

00:07:44.270 --> 00:07:45.000 align:middle line:90%