Thank you for swimming out tonight.
Surprising night in Tucson.
And for the April--
April Fools Day.
I'd like to make a few announcements
before the reading tonight.
First of all, here next Wednesday one
of the great moving voices of American poetry
will be returning to Tucson, Galway Kinnell.
That's here at 8 o'clock next Wednesday night.
Also some other events that are coming up in town that you
may want to know about.
The Lamplight Series on Sunday, April 5th.
We'll be holding a reading of poetry
by Native American students and the new issue
of Art's Reach edited by Scott Momaday will be out.
That will be at Bentley's on Congress Street
downtown Sunday.
I didn't write the time down, I think it's seven or eight.
Does anyone know?
Anyway, if you need to know, call the Poetry Center
and we'll know there.
And on April 11th, among other things
is having a People's Choice reading,
which will feature David Maine, Jefferson
Carter, and likely others.
And God, this is a very busy month for poetry in Tucson.
On Sunday, April 12th at 7:30 at Antigone Books,
Beverly Dahlen will be reading.
She will also appear for a book signing with Tucson poet
and publisher Charles Alexander at Bookman's on Grant Road.
The book signing will be Saturday the 11th at 11:00 AM,
and the reading will be Sunday the 12th at 7:30.
And if you haven't fully satisfied
your appetite for poetry already,
there is the exhibits--
30th anniversary celebration exhibit of books, photographs,
broadsides, and other interesting materials
from the Poetry Center collection which opens tomorrow
at 4 o'clock downtown at the Tucson Public Library.
Tonight we're extremely pleased that we have
Mei-mei Berssenbrugge with us.
We wanted to have her here last year,
and we succeeded this year.
She was born in Peking, grew up in the United States
back east in Massachusetts, has been
living in Galisteo and Santa Fe, New Mexico
for the past several years.
She's the author of Fish Souls; Summits Move with the Tide;
Random Possessions; The Heat Bird,
which won the 1984 Before Columbus American Book Award;
Empathy; Mizu; a play, One, Two Cups;
and quite a number of other works
which I am sorry to have left off the list.
Ideal is forthcoming from Kelsey Street Press,
and she's also working on a book with the artist
Kiki Smith, a collaborative book about the immune system,
which may, I understand, go on to more complex system
beyond the immune system.
I should tell you that after the reading, a number of her books
will be for sale courtesy of ASUA bookstore in the corridor.
We're extremely happy to have Mei-mei with us.
She's one of the more adventurous voices among us
today.
Please welcome Mei-mei Berssenbrugge.