WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.490 align:middle line:90% 00:00:02.490 --> 00:00:06.474 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:00:06.474 --> 00:00:13.450 align:middle line:90% 00:00:13.450 --> 00:00:16.720 align:middle line:84% The Topic of Tucson brought to you by the city of Tucson 00:00:16.720 --> 00:00:18.670 align:middle line:84% in cooperation with this station. 00:00:18.670 --> 00:00:22.060 align:middle line:84% Your host is Vicki Doyle of the city's community relations 00:00:22.060 --> 00:00:23.380 align:middle line:90% office. 00:00:23.380 --> 00:00:24.100 align:middle line:90% Welcome. 00:00:24.100 --> 00:00:26.260 align:middle line:84% Poetry is our topic today, and we even 00:00:26.260 --> 00:00:27.820 align:middle line:90% have some samples for you. 00:00:27.820 --> 00:00:29.320 align:middle line:84% Joining me are Mark Wunderlich, he's 00:00:29.320 --> 00:00:32.259 align:middle line:84% the acting director of the U of A Poetry Center, 00:00:32.259 --> 00:00:34.930 align:middle line:84% and Karen Falkenstrom is the events coordinator. 00:00:34.930 --> 00:00:36.430 align:middle line:90% So glad you could join me today. 00:00:36.430 --> 00:00:37.030 align:middle line:90% Thank you. 00:00:37.030 --> 00:00:37.530 align:middle line:90% Thank you. 00:00:37.530 --> 00:00:42.160 align:middle line:84% Is it unusual to have a poetry center at a university? 00:00:42.160 --> 00:00:43.090 align:middle line:90% Yes. 00:00:43.090 --> 00:00:45.080 align:middle line:90% Actually, it is quite unusual. 00:00:45.080 --> 00:00:48.810 align:middle line:84% It's unusual to have a poetry center anywhere. 00:00:48.810 --> 00:00:50.560 align:middle line:90% That's a very good point. 00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:54.842 align:middle line:84% The U of A Poetry Center is a very unique [? 00:00:54.842 --> 00:00:56.620 align:middle line:90% resource at a ?] university. 00:00:56.620 --> 00:00:59.590 align:middle line:84% I think that there's probably one other poetry 00:00:59.590 --> 00:01:03.040 align:middle line:84% center located at a university, perhaps too arguably. 00:01:03.040 --> 00:01:08.110 align:middle line:84% But the U of A Poetry Center is a very-- 00:01:08.110 --> 00:01:09.730 align:middle line:90% it's very specific to Tucson. 00:01:09.730 --> 00:01:11.690 align:middle line:84% I don't think I've seen anything like it. 00:01:11.690 --> 00:01:12.860 align:middle line:90% Well, how did it come about? 00:01:12.860 --> 00:01:15.370 align:middle line:84% How did we happen to land one here at the university 00:01:15.370 --> 00:01:17.050 align:middle line:84% because that's really unique then? 00:01:17.050 --> 00:01:19.350 align:middle line:90% Yeah, I like that terminology. 00:01:19.350 --> 00:01:23.410 align:middle line:84% 33 years ago, I guess, it was founded. 00:01:23.410 --> 00:01:25.930 align:middle line:84% Ruth Stephan, who was a poet herself 00:01:25.930 --> 00:01:27.850 align:middle line:84% and an editor of a magazine in town 00:01:27.850 --> 00:01:31.558 align:middle line:84% and also the heiress to the Walgreen-- 00:01:31.558 --> 00:01:32.350 align:middle line:90% what would you say? 00:01:32.350 --> 00:01:34.630 align:middle line:90% Fortune. 00:01:34.630 --> 00:01:37.570 align:middle line:84% Yes, she was well connected with the literary world, 00:01:37.570 --> 00:01:40.750 align:middle line:84% and she left or gave the university 00:01:40.750 --> 00:01:43.390 align:middle line:84% a gift of two houses, two little houses, one 00:01:43.390 --> 00:01:45.160 align:middle line:84% that she actually lived in for a while, 00:01:45.160 --> 00:01:47.560 align:middle line:84% and her collection of books, which at the time, I think, 00:01:47.560 --> 00:01:49.570 align:middle line:90% numbered about 500. 00:01:49.570 --> 00:01:51.940 align:middle line:84% One of the houses was to be made into the library. 00:01:51.940 --> 00:01:55.240 align:middle line:84% And one was to be offered to visiting writers as the guest 00:01:55.240 --> 00:01:56.890 align:middle line:84% house so that when they were here, 00:01:56.890 --> 00:01:59.320 align:middle line:90% they would have a place to stay. 00:01:59.320 --> 00:02:01.480 align:middle line:84% So 33 years ago, it was just two houses. 00:02:01.480 --> 00:02:04.810 align:middle line:84% And now, it's not the same two houses. 00:02:04.810 --> 00:02:07.930 align:middle line:84% It's still two little houses, but the collection has grown 00:02:07.930 --> 00:02:12.820 align:middle line:90% from 500 books to 28,000 items. 00:02:12.820 --> 00:02:16.000 align:middle line:84% And perhaps, most importantly, what she also left behind 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:19.690 align:middle line:84% was an endowment, which has allowed-- 00:02:19.690 --> 00:02:21.700 align:middle line:84% it has grown considerably over the years, 00:02:21.700 --> 00:02:23.980 align:middle line:84% and it's allowed the Poetry Center to continue 00:02:23.980 --> 00:02:28.390 align:middle line:84% to support the purchase of books and materials for its library. 00:02:28.390 --> 00:02:32.000 align:middle line:84% And that is primarily what that money has gone to do. 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:32.500 align:middle line:90% Good. 00:02:32.500 --> 00:02:34.360 align:middle line:84% Well, let's get into exactly what it is 00:02:34.360 --> 00:02:36.100 align:middle line:90% the Poetry Center is all about. 00:02:36.100 --> 00:02:38.230 align:middle line:84% What types of things do you have? 00:02:38.230 --> 00:02:41.560 align:middle line:84% And then we'll talk a little bit about how folks use that. 00:02:41.560 --> 00:02:45.100 align:middle line:84% Obviously, for leisure, maybe for resources too. 00:02:45.100 --> 00:02:46.930 align:middle line:84% Well, I guess, the first thing would 00:02:46.930 --> 00:02:49.690 align:middle line:84% be the special collection of contemporary poetry, 00:02:49.690 --> 00:02:53.350 align:middle line:84% mainly poetry in English and some bilingual editions, 00:02:53.350 --> 00:02:57.860 align:middle line:84% criticism, resource materials, video, audio, broadsides. 00:02:57.860 --> 00:03:00.310 align:middle line:84% So a great place to go if you're doing a paper. 00:03:00.310 --> 00:03:00.810 align:middle line:90% Right. 00:03:00.810 --> 00:03:02.920 align:middle line:84% Research center, and it's a small house. 00:03:02.920 --> 00:03:04.990 align:middle line:84% You can just go in and read poetry if you want. 00:03:04.990 --> 00:03:07.660 align:middle line:90% And you can have meetings there. 00:03:07.660 --> 00:03:11.530 align:middle line:84% So the physical center and the library are one thing. 00:03:11.530 --> 00:03:15.130 align:middle line:84% Well, and also, the library, it's 00:03:15.130 --> 00:03:19.270 align:middle line:84% one of the largest special collections in the US. 00:03:19.270 --> 00:03:22.180 align:middle line:84% And I believe that Harvard University has 00:03:22.180 --> 00:03:27.130 align:middle line:84% the only collection of poetry that is larger, 00:03:27.130 --> 00:03:28.690 align:middle line:90% but it's not a center. 00:03:28.690 --> 00:03:32.398 align:middle line:84% It's part of their main library, which is unique. 00:03:32.398 --> 00:03:33.940 align:middle line:84% Other programs that the Poetry Center 00:03:33.940 --> 00:03:38.020 align:middle line:84% does, perhaps the one that takes up the largest 00:03:38.020 --> 00:03:38.955 align:middle line:90% amount of our time-- 00:03:38.955 --> 00:03:40.420 align:middle line:84% But my time [INAUDIBLE] for sure. 00:03:40.420 --> 00:03:43.030 align:middle line:84% Certainly, in Karen's, is our reading series, 00:03:43.030 --> 00:03:46.210 align:middle line:84% which is one of the oldest reading series in the country. 00:03:46.210 --> 00:03:49.270 align:middle line:84% It was inaugurated in 1962 by none other 00:03:49.270 --> 00:03:51.280 align:middle line:84% than Robert Frost, who was brought 00:03:51.280 --> 00:03:52.870 align:middle line:90% as a guest of Ruth Stephan. 00:03:52.870 --> 00:03:55.750 align:middle line:84% And it's continued through over the years 00:03:55.750 --> 00:03:57.490 align:middle line:90% and has grown in its scope. 00:03:57.490 --> 00:04:02.500 align:middle line:84% And virtually every important poet in the US, 00:04:02.500 --> 00:04:03.970 align:middle line:90% excluding some recent-- 00:04:03.970 --> 00:04:07.120 align:middle line:84% Few exclusions that are notable, but we 00:04:07.120 --> 00:04:09.310 align:middle line:84% have had most major US poets read 00:04:09.310 --> 00:04:11.120 align:middle line:84% in the series over the last 30 years. 00:04:11.120 --> 00:04:12.730 align:middle line:84% So how do you get those poets here? 00:04:12.730 --> 00:04:16.750 align:middle line:84% Do they get some monies from the Poetry Center for travel 00:04:16.750 --> 00:04:17.769 align:middle line:90% and all that good stuff? 00:04:17.769 --> 00:04:19.561 align:middle line:84% How do you get all those famous folks here? 00:04:19.561 --> 00:04:23.860 align:middle line:84% Well, we're able to offer a very modest honorarium. 00:04:23.860 --> 00:04:25.540 align:middle line:90% We cover travel expenses. 00:04:25.540 --> 00:04:26.830 align:middle line:90% We put the poets up. 00:04:26.830 --> 00:04:29.590 align:middle line:84% When they come here, they stay in our guest house. 00:04:29.590 --> 00:04:33.970 align:middle line:84% And a lot of it has to do with the center's reputation, 00:04:33.970 --> 00:04:36.250 align:middle line:84% with its growing national reputation, 00:04:36.250 --> 00:04:38.050 align:middle line:84% and of course, Tucson's reputation 00:04:38.050 --> 00:04:39.720 align:middle line:84% as a literary center of the Southwest. 00:04:39.720 --> 00:04:40.720 align:middle line:90% Oh, that's good to know. 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:43.780 align:middle line:84% So you have a supporting crowd or audience here. 00:04:43.780 --> 00:04:44.620 align:middle line:90% Absolutely. 00:04:44.620 --> 00:04:46.780 align:middle line:84% And I think Karen could speak to that, certainly. 00:04:46.780 --> 00:04:49.960 align:middle line:84% We have one of the finest literary communities 00:04:49.960 --> 00:04:52.060 align:middle line:84% in the country, I think, and we're known that way. 00:04:52.060 --> 00:04:53.977 align:middle line:84% It's also partly just the climate. 00:04:53.977 --> 00:04:56.560 align:middle line:84% I don't know, I don't want to start talking about the weather, 00:04:56.560 --> 00:04:59.050 align:middle line:84% but Tucson is a very appealing place 00:04:59.050 --> 00:05:02.422 align:middle line:84% to come if you're in Boston and it's February. 00:05:02.422 --> 00:05:03.880 align:middle line:84% Also, people just know that they're 00:05:03.880 --> 00:05:07.900 align:middle line:84% going to find a very receptive and [INAUDIBLE] audience here 00:05:07.900 --> 00:05:08.980 align:middle line:90% and friends. 00:05:08.980 --> 00:05:11.740 align:middle line:84% How do you rate the audience here? 00:05:11.740 --> 00:05:14.150 align:middle line:84% When you say we have good audience, what does that mean? 00:05:14.150 --> 00:05:17.960 align:middle line:84% Lots of folks show up to the readings and people, right? 00:05:17.960 --> 00:05:21.380 align:middle line:84% Yeah, numbers are always telling. 00:05:21.380 --> 00:05:23.330 align:middle line:84% Some interest is expressed through phone calls 00:05:23.330 --> 00:05:25.460 align:middle line:84% to the center during maybe the week 00:05:25.460 --> 00:05:27.650 align:middle line:90% before the person is coming. 00:05:27.650 --> 00:05:30.560 align:middle line:84% We always have books available through a bookstore 00:05:30.560 --> 00:05:32.180 align:middle line:84% at the readings and then book sales 00:05:32.180 --> 00:05:33.410 align:middle line:90% have something to do with it. 00:05:33.410 --> 00:05:36.260 align:middle line:84% But mainly, I guess it is numbers, how many people show up 00:05:36.260 --> 00:05:40.370 align:middle line:84% and what their responses are afterwards. 00:05:40.370 --> 00:05:43.170 align:middle line:84% The residency program was something that you mentioned, 00:05:43.170 --> 00:05:45.230 align:middle line:84% which is a kind of unique, what does it 00:05:45.230 --> 00:05:48.680 align:middle line:84% mean to have a residency at the Poetry Center? 00:05:48.680 --> 00:05:51.560 align:middle line:84% This was begun, I believe, two years ago. 00:05:51.560 --> 00:05:52.850 align:middle line:90% It means you sweat a lot. 00:05:52.850 --> 00:05:55.520 align:middle line:90% 00:05:55.520 --> 00:05:57.860 align:middle line:84% We found that the Poetry Center, that the guest house 00:05:57.860 --> 00:06:01.190 align:middle line:84% was vacant for a considerable part of the summer. 00:06:01.190 --> 00:06:05.690 align:middle line:84% And looking at this resource that was going unused, 00:06:05.690 --> 00:06:10.520 align:middle line:84% we thought why not open it up and give them 00:06:10.520 --> 00:06:15.440 align:middle line:84% that house for one month in the summer to come and use 00:06:15.440 --> 00:06:18.320 align:middle line:84% the time and the space and the resources of the center 00:06:18.320 --> 00:06:22.430 align:middle line:84% to do some creative work and to enjoy Tucson's 00:06:22.430 --> 00:06:26.270 align:middle line:84% literary community, to enjoy the resources of the library, 00:06:26.270 --> 00:06:28.580 align:middle line:90% and be a productive writer. 00:06:28.580 --> 00:06:33.560 align:middle line:84% I think that one of the things that more now than ever, 00:06:33.560 --> 00:06:39.170 align:middle line:84% it's difficult to find the time, the quietude-- 00:06:39.170 --> 00:06:40.380 align:middle line:90% Plus a space, sure, 00:06:40.380 --> 00:06:41.180 align:middle line:90% Exactly. 00:06:41.180 --> 00:06:45.680 align:middle line:84% And also, the center provides a certain legitimacy to that act. 00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:47.750 align:middle line:84% When you give someone a residency 00:06:47.750 --> 00:06:53.750 align:middle line:84% after a rigorous manuscript screening process, 00:06:53.750 --> 00:06:55.310 align:middle line:90% it's like receiving an award. 00:06:55.310 --> 00:06:57.157 align:middle line:84% And they can tell all of their friends 00:06:57.157 --> 00:06:58.990 align:middle line:84% and their family they're taking a month off. 00:06:58.990 --> 00:06:59.340 align:middle line:90% Putting in their own resume. 00:06:59.340 --> 00:06:59.840 align:middle line:90% Exactly. 00:06:59.840 --> 00:07:02.000 align:middle line:90% Put it on the resume. 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:03.290 align:middle line:90% And it's validation. 00:07:03.290 --> 00:07:06.530 align:middle line:84% That's one thing, is that you don't get a lot of validation 00:07:06.530 --> 00:07:09.290 align:middle line:84% in everyday life while you're doing the laundry 00:07:09.290 --> 00:07:10.700 align:middle line:90% and going to work and whatever. 00:07:10.700 --> 00:07:13.460 align:middle line:84% Not everybody has a job like-- but if you're going to your job, 00:07:13.460 --> 00:07:15.680 align:middle line:84% normally, people don't validate you as a writer. 00:07:15.680 --> 00:07:19.370 align:middle line:84% And to get something like a residency or an award 00:07:19.370 --> 00:07:21.410 align:middle line:84% or a publication is a way of saying 00:07:21.410 --> 00:07:22.660 align:middle line:90% I'm doing the right thing. 00:07:22.660 --> 00:07:23.198 align:middle line:90% OK. 00:07:23.198 --> 00:07:24.740 align:middle line:84% Well, we have some samples that we're 00:07:24.740 --> 00:07:28.490 align:middle line:84% going to sprinkle through our half hour today. 00:07:28.490 --> 00:07:30.980 align:middle line:84% So which one of you would like to do that because we 00:07:30.980 --> 00:07:32.680 align:middle line:90% want to hear some poetry? 00:07:32.680 --> 00:07:34.820 align:middle line:84% Do you want to go first with the-- 00:07:34.820 --> 00:07:35.960 align:middle line:90% Sure. 00:07:35.960 --> 00:07:40.010 align:middle line:84% I will read a poem from Michael Collier. 00:07:40.010 --> 00:07:41.810 align:middle line:90% He's coming here first, I guess. 00:07:41.810 --> 00:07:42.590 align:middle line:90% No, he's second. 00:07:42.590 --> 00:07:44.400 align:middle line:84% He's our second reader in our series. 00:07:44.400 --> 00:07:45.860 align:middle line:84% He'll be reading on Wednesday night 00:07:45.860 --> 00:07:49.220 align:middle line:84% October 4 at the Modern Languages auditorium 00:07:49.220 --> 00:07:50.750 align:middle line:84% here at the University of Arizona. 00:07:50.750 --> 00:07:54.200 align:middle line:84% And Michael is a graduate of the MFA program. 00:07:54.200 --> 00:07:57.440 align:middle line:84% And he is the author of three books of poetry. 00:07:57.440 --> 00:07:59.240 align:middle line:84% His most recent is called The Neighbor. 00:07:59.240 --> 00:08:01.730 align:middle line:84% And it's published by the University of Chicago Press. 00:08:01.730 --> 00:08:04.250 align:middle line:84% And it came out this year in 1995. 00:08:04.250 --> 00:08:08.840 align:middle line:84% And the poem I'm going to read the title of which is "Ricordo: 00:08:08.840 --> 00:08:11.720 align:middle line:90% Citta del Vaticano." 00:08:11.720 --> 00:08:14.420 align:middle line:84% Gravity governs the changing of these guards 00:08:14.420 --> 00:08:17.510 align:middle line:84% who slide through plastic barrel of a souvenir pen, 00:08:17.510 --> 00:08:21.170 align:middle line:84% an ounce of mineral oil, the timely element that 00:08:21.170 --> 00:08:26.180 align:middle line:84% lets them cross from portico to portico, the entrance of St 00:08:26.180 --> 00:08:28.310 align:middle line:90% Peter's Square. 00:08:28.310 --> 00:08:31.880 align:middle line:84% And having crossed, I send them back again 00:08:31.880 --> 00:08:37.100 align:middle line:84% heads in front of halberds by tilting down the pen. 00:08:37.100 --> 00:08:42.049 align:middle line:84% And so, trapped in their slow though never-changing world, 00:08:42.049 --> 00:08:46.040 align:middle line:84% and dressed in couture by Raphael or Michelangelo, 00:08:46.040 --> 00:08:49.460 align:middle line:84% they govern all the worlds that live unwritten 00:08:49.460 --> 00:08:53.550 align:middle line:90% inside the plastic vein of ink. 00:08:53.550 --> 00:08:56.970 align:middle line:84% The names and streets, the world's four lines 00:08:56.970 --> 00:09:00.450 align:middle line:84% that make addresses complete or incomplete 00:09:00.450 --> 00:09:03.240 align:middle line:84% and make the offhand greetings, wish 00:09:03.240 --> 00:09:06.060 align:middle line:84% you could be here, miss you, I'll 00:09:06.060 --> 00:09:11.130 align:middle line:84% write when I have more time, the light this evening was, more 00:09:11.130 --> 00:09:13.710 align:middle line:84% like the thoughts that guard our thoughts 00:09:13.710 --> 00:09:17.770 align:middle line:84% and keep us safe or far enough removed from the truth 00:09:17.770 --> 00:09:23.490 align:middle line:84% we feel when lira in hand, we lean across the simonist's stall 00:09:23.490 --> 00:09:29.340 align:middle line:84% to buy a gift, a tiny machine for writing, almost wholly, 00:09:29.340 --> 00:09:34.620 align:middle line:84% almost blessed, a sure emblem of the heart's kitsch. 00:09:34.620 --> 00:09:35.550 align:middle line:90% Very nice. 00:09:35.550 --> 00:09:38.670 align:middle line:84% So we'll get to hear some more of this on October 4 00:09:38.670 --> 00:09:39.870 align:middle line:90% from that author. 00:09:39.870 --> 00:09:43.193 align:middle line:84% But at a public reading, what happens? 00:09:43.193 --> 00:09:44.610 align:middle line:84% Take us through for someone that's 00:09:44.610 --> 00:09:47.220 align:middle line:90% not been to a poetry reading. 00:09:47.220 --> 00:09:48.810 align:middle line:90% You can't just end it at that. 00:09:48.810 --> 00:09:50.315 align:middle line:90% Do you get to talk about it-- 00:09:50.315 --> 00:09:50.940 align:middle line:90% Lots of things. 00:09:50.940 --> 00:09:53.700 align:middle line:84% And say, well, this is what I thought he meant 00:09:53.700 --> 00:09:55.080 align:middle line:90% and all of that good stuff? 00:09:55.080 --> 00:09:55.680 align:middle line:90% What happens? 00:09:55.680 --> 00:09:58.680 align:middle line:84% Well, of course, people love being read to. 00:09:58.680 --> 00:10:01.530 align:middle line:90% And what we do is-- 00:10:01.530 --> 00:10:04.680 align:middle line:84% it's set up as if it were a theatrical performance. 00:10:04.680 --> 00:10:09.120 align:middle line:84% The writer stands at the podium on a stage 00:10:09.120 --> 00:10:11.000 align:middle line:90% and will read from their work. 00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:13.500 align:middle line:84% I found that one of my favorite things about poetry readings 00:10:13.500 --> 00:10:16.860 align:middle line:84% is the patter that happens in between the poems, the way 00:10:16.860 --> 00:10:20.730 align:middle line:84% people talk about their lives and themselves. 00:10:20.730 --> 00:10:24.420 align:middle line:84% A poetry reading is a very unique opportunity 00:10:24.420 --> 00:10:29.280 align:middle line:84% to see the word united with the flesh, in a way. 00:10:29.280 --> 00:10:33.630 align:middle line:84% It becomes theater when you get to see an actual person, 00:10:33.630 --> 00:10:36.120 align:middle line:84% and you get to hear their voice coming out of their body. 00:10:36.120 --> 00:10:38.370 align:middle line:84% It becomes as if it were a theatrical performance. 00:10:38.370 --> 00:10:40.110 align:middle line:84% This is the person that wrote this. 00:10:40.110 --> 00:10:41.400 align:middle line:90% Exactly, exactly. 00:10:41.400 --> 00:10:45.000 align:middle line:84% You have someone you can project your feelings about the poem on. 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:46.740 align:middle line:84% And that's a wonderful experience. 00:10:46.740 --> 00:10:50.730 align:middle line:84% And it's much different from reading work on the page. 00:10:50.730 --> 00:10:54.480 align:middle line:84% That's an entirely different kind of experience equally. 00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:56.730 align:middle line:90% More personal maybe. 00:10:56.730 --> 00:10:57.930 align:middle line:90% Yeah, perhaps more personal. 00:10:57.930 --> 00:10:59.850 align:middle line:84% It sounds like a communal thing, almost. 00:10:59.850 --> 00:11:01.590 align:middle line:84% Everyone is hearing the same thing. 00:11:01.590 --> 00:11:03.300 align:middle line:84% Yeah, it can be although I would argue 00:11:03.300 --> 00:11:07.050 align:middle line:84% that sometimes the experience that each audience member has 00:11:07.050 --> 00:11:09.900 align:middle line:84% in a reading situation is one of the most intensely 00:11:09.900 --> 00:11:13.950 align:middle line:84% personal experiences you can have for some reason. 00:11:13.950 --> 00:11:16.260 align:middle line:90% Maybe it's the sensory thing. 00:11:16.260 --> 00:11:19.710 align:middle line:84% Reading on the page, you don't get the sights and the sounds 00:11:19.710 --> 00:11:21.660 align:middle line:84% and the smells, which are the things that 00:11:21.660 --> 00:11:25.260 align:middle line:84% really make an experience full and whole for us. 00:11:25.260 --> 00:11:28.890 align:middle line:84% So does the audience get to talk about the poem, 00:11:28.890 --> 00:11:31.320 align:middle line:84% or does the next person read the next poem, 00:11:31.320 --> 00:11:32.350 align:middle line:90% or how does that work? 00:11:32.350 --> 00:11:35.610 align:middle line:84% Well, we generally feature one writer per night. 00:11:35.610 --> 00:11:41.520 align:middle line:84% We decide to really feature them and give them 00:11:41.520 --> 00:11:42.557 align:middle line:90% a large amount of time. 00:11:42.557 --> 00:11:43.140 align:middle line:90% A whole night. 00:11:43.140 --> 00:11:46.350 align:middle line:90% Exactly, and it's their evening. 00:11:46.350 --> 00:11:48.090 align:middle line:84% I think that's very nice for the poets. 00:11:48.090 --> 00:11:52.190 align:middle line:90% 00:11:52.190 --> 00:11:54.920 align:middle line:84% The audience doesn't really get to talk to the poets 00:11:54.920 --> 00:11:57.020 align:middle line:84% afterwards, except there's some interaction. 00:11:57.020 --> 00:11:58.770 align:middle line:90% It depends on the poet. 00:11:58.770 --> 00:12:01.130 align:middle line:90% Some people are extremely-- 00:12:01.130 --> 00:12:03.560 align:middle line:90% they like informal presentation. 00:12:03.560 --> 00:12:08.120 align:middle line:84% When Sherman Alexie was here, he calls his reading style stand-up 00:12:08.120 --> 00:12:08.780 align:middle line:90% poetry. 00:12:08.780 --> 00:12:12.830 align:middle line:84% And it's very much resembles a comedy routine. 00:12:12.830 --> 00:12:14.570 align:middle line:84% And at the end, it's imperative to him 00:12:14.570 --> 00:12:18.042 align:middle line:84% that he open up and talk to the audience. 00:12:18.042 --> 00:12:19.250 align:middle line:90% He wants to get the feedback. 00:12:19.250 --> 00:12:21.560 align:middle line:84% He wants to answer their questions. 00:12:21.560 --> 00:12:23.330 align:middle line:90% Luis Rodriguez was the same way. 00:12:23.330 --> 00:12:25.940 align:middle line:84% And then some people just like to present. 00:12:25.940 --> 00:12:27.930 align:middle line:84% They put all their energy into that. 00:12:27.930 --> 00:12:29.880 align:middle line:84% And at the end of the reading, that's the end. 00:12:29.880 --> 00:12:30.380 align:middle line:90% That's it. 00:12:30.380 --> 00:12:32.380 align:middle line:84% You go with it what you get out of it. 00:12:32.380 --> 00:12:32.880 align:middle line:90% Right. 00:12:32.880 --> 00:12:34.310 align:middle line:90% So it depends. 00:12:34.310 --> 00:12:37.670 align:middle line:84% Who are some of the other people that are coming up? 00:12:37.670 --> 00:12:41.090 align:middle line:84% And if you can, lightly give some credentials 00:12:41.090 --> 00:12:44.480 align:middle line:84% because it's very impressive to see some of the folks that 00:12:44.480 --> 00:12:46.250 align:middle line:84% are going to be visiting the Poetry Center 00:12:46.250 --> 00:12:47.840 align:middle line:90% and what they've done. 00:12:47.840 --> 00:12:52.100 align:middle line:84% Well, our first reader in this season is Pattiann Rogers. 00:12:52.100 --> 00:12:55.250 align:middle line:84% And she will be reading on Wednesday evening September 20. 00:12:55.250 --> 00:12:58.880 align:middle line:84% And she is the author of six books of poetry. 00:12:58.880 --> 00:13:02.090 align:middle line:84% Her most recent book is called Fire Keeper: 00:13:02.090 --> 00:13:03.380 align:middle line:90% New and Selected Poems. 00:13:03.380 --> 00:13:06.110 align:middle line:84% It was published by Milkweed Editions in 1994. 00:13:06.110 --> 00:13:08.930 align:middle line:84% And that book was chosen by Publishers Weekly 00:13:08.930 --> 00:13:13.130 align:middle line:84% as one of the best books of poetry to be published in 1994. 00:13:13.130 --> 00:13:16.430 align:middle line:84% She's received numerous awards including the Natalie Ornish 00:13:16.430 --> 00:13:19.580 align:middle line:84% Poetry Award from the Texas Institute of Letters. 00:13:19.580 --> 00:13:22.820 align:middle line:84% She has received two NEA fellowships, a Guggenheim 00:13:22.820 --> 00:13:24.860 align:middle line:84% Fellowship and a poetry fellowship 00:13:24.860 --> 00:13:26.120 align:middle line:90% from the Lannan Foundation. 00:13:26.120 --> 00:13:28.473 align:middle line:90% Pretty impressive. 00:13:28.473 --> 00:13:30.140 align:middle line:84% I'm going through all of them because we 00:13:30.140 --> 00:13:31.430 align:middle line:90% do have some limited time. 00:13:31.430 --> 00:13:34.268 align:middle line:84% You have a poem by her, and I would really love to have you 00:13:34.268 --> 00:13:35.810 align:middle line:84% read that if you don't mind, that's-- 00:13:35.810 --> 00:13:36.950 align:middle line:90% Absolutely. 00:13:36.950 --> 00:13:39.230 align:middle line:84% As you said, we love being read to. 00:13:39.230 --> 00:13:43.310 align:middle line:84% The title of this poem is "Before I Wake." 00:13:43.310 --> 00:13:46.460 align:middle line:84% The turning of the marsh marigold coming slowly 00:13:46.460 --> 00:13:49.490 align:middle line:84% into its emergent bloom underwater, 00:13:49.490 --> 00:13:52.640 align:middle line:84% the turning of the coral sands over themselves 00:13:52.640 --> 00:13:56.540 align:middle line:84% and over their dunes and over the scratchings of this scarab 00:13:56.540 --> 00:14:00.560 align:middle line:84% beetles turning over the dung of the desert doe, 00:14:00.560 --> 00:14:03.380 align:middle line:84% the pivoting of the eye of the bluefish 00:14:03.380 --> 00:14:08.150 align:middle line:84% turning inside the drawing light of its multiple school shifting 00:14:08.150 --> 00:14:11.390 align:middle line:84% its constellation in the dark sea, 00:14:11.390 --> 00:14:15.350 align:middle line:84% this is the prayer of sleep in which I lay myself down 00:14:15.350 --> 00:14:17.470 align:middle line:90% to dream. 00:14:17.470 --> 00:14:21.460 align:middle line:84% The quiet enclosed by the burrowing wolf spider dragging 00:14:21.460 --> 00:14:25.930 align:middle line:84% its egg sac to the surface of the sun, the stillness covered 00:14:25.930 --> 00:14:29.140 align:middle line:84% by the barren strawberry making its fleshless 00:14:29.140 --> 00:14:32.950 align:middle line:84% seed on the rocky hill, the study in the desert 00:14:32.950 --> 00:14:37.330 align:middle line:84% mushroom knotting itself in the arid heat, the silence 00:14:37.330 --> 00:14:42.080 align:middle line:84% of the fetal seahorses bound in the pouch of their father, 00:14:42.080 --> 00:14:47.620 align:middle line:84% this is the dream of the soul in which I lay myself down to pray. 00:14:47.620 --> 00:14:50.140 align:middle line:84% And I've asked the outward motion 00:14:50.140 --> 00:14:53.500 align:middle line:84% of the hollow web of the elm making leaf, 00:14:53.500 --> 00:14:58.270 align:middle line:84% and I've asked the inward motion of every glinting fin making 00:14:58.270 --> 00:15:03.520 align:middle line:84% the focus of the carp, and I've asked the evolution of the egg 00:15:03.520 --> 00:15:08.650 align:middle line:84% buds carried in the dark inside the cowbirds circling overhead, 00:15:08.650 --> 00:15:12.820 align:middle line:84% and I've asked the tight coiling and breaking of light 00:15:12.820 --> 00:15:15.640 align:middle line:84% traveling in the beads of the sawgrass 00:15:15.640 --> 00:15:19.870 align:middle line:84% and the net of the sea oats splitting and binding 00:15:19.870 --> 00:15:25.870 align:middle line:84% and splitting again over and over across the open lands 00:15:25.870 --> 00:15:32.140 align:middle line:84% to keep me in this dream tonight through one more prayer. 00:15:32.140 --> 00:15:33.280 align:middle line:90% Very nice. 00:15:33.280 --> 00:15:37.570 align:middle line:84% How much of poetry is based on how to write a poem, 00:15:37.570 --> 00:15:40.920 align:middle line:84% and how much is based on inspiration? 00:15:40.920 --> 00:15:45.530 align:middle line:90% Wow, that's a big one. 00:15:45.530 --> 00:15:50.050 align:middle line:84% Well, when you go out to write a poem, how do you go about it? 00:15:50.050 --> 00:15:52.390 align:middle line:90% And how do poets go about it? 00:15:52.390 --> 00:15:54.850 align:middle line:84% Well, there are as many different interpretations 00:15:54.850 --> 00:15:57.310 align:middle line:84% as that is there are poets, certainly. 00:15:57.310 --> 00:16:02.920 align:middle line:84% There are poets who approach poetry as a mystical experience, 00:16:02.920 --> 00:16:04.810 align:middle line:90% as a religious experience. 00:16:04.810 --> 00:16:07.510 align:middle line:84% There are poets who write arguments. 00:16:07.510 --> 00:16:09.070 align:middle line:84% I think of the poet Jorie Graham, 00:16:09.070 --> 00:16:13.150 align:middle line:84% who is as close to a contemporary philosopher 00:16:13.150 --> 00:16:15.400 align:middle line:90% as we have in American poetry. 00:16:15.400 --> 00:16:19.960 align:middle line:84% There are poets who are the champions of the lyric 00:16:19.960 --> 00:16:25.000 align:middle line:84% verse, which is the poetry that takes 00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:27.820 align:middle line:90% as its rhythm the heartbeat. 00:16:27.820 --> 00:16:33.130 align:middle line:84% And it's so difficult to say how they come about doing that. 00:16:33.130 --> 00:16:35.470 align:middle line:84% You have to be crazy to do it any way. 00:16:35.470 --> 00:16:37.570 align:middle line:84% It's this wonderful, crazy thing. 00:16:37.570 --> 00:16:42.970 align:middle line:84% It's an art form that exists in some ways outside of commerce, 00:16:42.970 --> 00:16:49.378 align:middle line:84% and in some ways, there are as many different interpretations 00:16:49.378 --> 00:16:50.170 align:middle line:90% as there are poets. 00:16:50.170 --> 00:16:52.360 align:middle line:84% Because it takes a great deal of discipline, 00:16:52.360 --> 00:16:55.070 align:middle line:84% and oftentimes, that discipline is not rewarded. 00:16:55.070 --> 00:16:56.860 align:middle line:84% I think one thing we mentioned about-- 00:16:56.860 --> 00:17:01.060 align:middle line:84% one of the great things that the residency program we have gives 00:17:01.060 --> 00:17:03.230 align:middle line:84% is the time, the room of one's own, 00:17:03.230 --> 00:17:07.450 align:middle line:84% so to speak, where one can actually sit down and be 00:17:07.450 --> 00:17:08.859 align:middle line:90% serious about writing. 00:17:08.859 --> 00:17:11.950 align:middle line:84% And a lot of lives don't offer that. 00:17:11.950 --> 00:17:14.470 align:middle line:84% You'll notice that the people who come to our series 00:17:14.470 --> 00:17:17.770 align:middle line:90% have very impressive bios. 00:17:17.770 --> 00:17:21.130 align:middle line:84% A lot of them include things like NEA, Guggenheim, 00:17:21.130 --> 00:17:25.450 align:middle line:84% or fellowships from Lannan that allow them to take a year 00:17:25.450 --> 00:17:27.520 align:middle line:84% to sit down with their work and what 00:17:27.520 --> 00:17:29.950 align:middle line:84% they want to say and really produce that work. 00:17:29.950 --> 00:17:32.830 align:middle line:84% And again, we're in a climate where that sort of time 00:17:32.830 --> 00:17:34.630 align:middle line:90% is in danger. 00:17:34.630 --> 00:17:39.640 align:middle line:84% Based on some of the volumes that you have in the Poetry 00:17:39.640 --> 00:17:43.750 align:middle line:84% Center and also getting to hear poets now, 00:17:43.750 --> 00:17:46.450 align:middle line:90% do styles change over time? 00:17:46.450 --> 00:17:51.220 align:middle line:84% And do poets write in a certain vein in the 1900s? 00:17:51.220 --> 00:17:54.850 align:middle line:84% And do you see any shift in the way people 00:17:54.850 --> 00:17:58.120 align:middle line:90% write and similarities? 00:17:58.120 --> 00:18:00.700 align:middle line:84% Well, there are many different schools 00:18:00.700 --> 00:18:03.100 align:middle line:90% of poetry throughout the US. 00:18:03.100 --> 00:18:06.310 align:middle line:84% First of all, I think that the most exciting poetry 00:18:06.310 --> 00:18:07.810 align:middle line:84% being written in the world is being 00:18:07.810 --> 00:18:09.070 align:middle line:90% written in the United States. 00:18:09.070 --> 00:18:13.000 align:middle line:90% I find that we have a poetry-- 00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:15.620 align:middle line:84% more books are published here than any other country. 00:18:15.620 --> 00:18:21.730 align:middle line:84% More people are really engaged in the art, which is fantastic. 00:18:21.730 --> 00:18:26.680 align:middle line:84% And different schools of thought, as far as poetry goes, 00:18:26.680 --> 00:18:29.720 align:middle line:84% have blossomed in different parts of the country. 00:18:29.720 --> 00:18:34.300 align:middle line:84% They usually have some kind of geographic origins, 00:18:34.300 --> 00:18:36.100 align:middle line:90% and then they spread. 00:18:36.100 --> 00:18:38.410 align:middle line:84% I think of the language poets, which 00:18:38.410 --> 00:18:41.650 align:middle line:84% is a group of poets who find their lineage-- 00:18:41.650 --> 00:18:45.220 align:middle line:84% it goes back to perhaps the Black Mountain School 00:18:45.220 --> 00:18:47.920 align:middle line:84% and in a couple of other sources like that. 00:18:47.920 --> 00:18:49.930 align:middle line:84% But the language poets are concerned 00:18:49.930 --> 00:18:52.990 align:middle line:84% with the way in which we form language 00:18:52.990 --> 00:18:58.780 align:middle line:84% and the way the sound of language informs meaning. 00:18:58.780 --> 00:19:01.640 align:middle line:84% And that seems to be a lot of their concerns. 00:19:01.640 --> 00:19:04.615 align:middle line:90% And so they-- 00:19:04.615 --> 00:19:06.240 align:middle line:84% I hope they forgive me for saying this, 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:08.850 align:middle line:84% but they play with language in lots of ways. 00:19:08.850 --> 00:19:11.550 align:middle line:90% They approach it in a very-- 00:19:11.550 --> 00:19:14.880 align:middle line:84% and sometimes a very theoretical point of view. 00:19:14.880 --> 00:19:18.450 align:middle line:84% But what drives the poem, the engine behind it 00:19:18.450 --> 00:19:20.890 align:middle line:84% is this sense of play with language. 00:19:20.890 --> 00:19:22.620 align:middle line:84% So it can almost be a mathematical 00:19:22.620 --> 00:19:26.160 align:middle line:84% or an analytical way of coming about it, it sounds like. 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:28.680 align:middle line:90% And it also can be very organic. 00:19:28.680 --> 00:19:30.150 align:middle line:90% Absolutely. 00:19:30.150 --> 00:19:30.900 align:middle line:90% Absolutely. 00:19:30.900 --> 00:19:32.590 align:middle line:84% And there are certainly other schools. 00:19:32.590 --> 00:19:35.160 align:middle line:84% I have arrived here from the East Coast, 00:19:35.160 --> 00:19:37.470 align:middle line:84% and the poetry that exists in the east 00:19:37.470 --> 00:19:39.450 align:middle line:84% is much different from what you find 00:19:39.450 --> 00:19:42.380 align:middle line:90% in other parts of the country. 00:19:42.380 --> 00:19:43.650 align:middle line:90% How do you mean that? 00:19:43.650 --> 00:19:48.480 align:middle line:84% Well, I have of exposure to formal poets who 00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:52.500 align:middle line:84% write in formal verse, the New Formalists. 00:19:52.500 --> 00:19:54.660 align:middle line:84% I worked for a while for an organization 00:19:54.660 --> 00:19:56.490 align:middle line:84% called the Academy of American Poets. 00:19:56.490 --> 00:19:59.550 align:middle line:84% And there, there are many formal poets 00:19:59.550 --> 00:20:02.580 align:middle line:90% who are part of that circle. 00:20:02.580 --> 00:20:07.990 align:middle line:84% And that has found some revival in recent years. 00:20:07.990 --> 00:20:11.220 align:middle line:84% People are discovering what we call received forms, 00:20:11.220 --> 00:20:15.870 align:middle line:84% the sestina, the villanelle, verse that 00:20:15.870 --> 00:20:18.510 align:middle line:90% is written in rhyme and meter. 00:20:18.510 --> 00:20:21.150 align:middle line:84% So people are counting the number of syllables and verse. 00:20:21.150 --> 00:20:25.253 align:middle line:84% And it's harkening back to an older time. 00:20:25.253 --> 00:20:26.670 align:middle line:84% It's sometimes thought of as being 00:20:26.670 --> 00:20:30.990 align:middle line:84% conservative although there are poets who certainly are not 00:20:30.990 --> 00:20:32.610 align:middle line:90% who write in formal verse. 00:20:32.610 --> 00:20:35.280 align:middle line:84% Yeah, when Rafael Campo was here this spring, 00:20:35.280 --> 00:20:37.860 align:middle line:84% he mentioned that writing in forms 00:20:37.860 --> 00:20:40.710 align:middle line:84% is like having a dialogue with the history of poetry, 00:20:40.710 --> 00:20:43.290 align:middle line:84% and that you're speaking to all the people 00:20:43.290 --> 00:20:47.220 align:middle line:84% who have written in those forms before you, Shakespeare, 00:20:47.220 --> 00:20:47.753 align:middle line:90% Plutarch. 00:20:47.753 --> 00:20:49.170 align:middle line:84% Let's talk a little bit about each 00:20:49.170 --> 00:20:53.550 align:middle line:84% because it seems like part of what the Poetry Center is doing 00:20:53.550 --> 00:20:56.970 align:middle line:84% is not only bringing poetry to folks through readings, 00:20:56.970 --> 00:20:59.370 align:middle line:84% but also trying to get folks interested in poetry 00:20:59.370 --> 00:21:00.030 align:middle line:90% to begin with. 00:21:00.030 --> 00:21:02.610 align:middle line:90% How do you do that? 00:21:02.610 --> 00:21:05.263 align:middle line:84% We didn't get to the community service projects aspect 00:21:05.263 --> 00:21:06.930 align:middle line:84% of the Poetry Center, but that, I think, 00:21:06.930 --> 00:21:10.207 align:middle line:84% is one of the more crucial things that we do. 00:21:10.207 --> 00:21:11.790 align:middle line:84% We're not just an information service, 00:21:11.790 --> 00:21:14.910 align:middle line:84% but we also sponsor poets in the schools 00:21:14.910 --> 00:21:18.180 align:middle line:84% programs, in the high schools, and actually K through 12. 00:21:18.180 --> 00:21:19.780 align:middle line:84% Some of them are graduate students. 00:21:19.780 --> 00:21:21.510 align:middle line:84% And some of them are actually the people 00:21:21.510 --> 00:21:23.302 align:middle line:84% we've brought in for the reading series who 00:21:23.302 --> 00:21:26.070 align:middle line:90% go in and talk to students. 00:21:26.070 --> 00:21:27.150 align:middle line:90% How does that go over? 00:21:27.150 --> 00:21:28.230 align:middle line:90% It's great. 00:21:28.230 --> 00:21:30.090 align:middle line:84% I remember when I was in high school, 00:21:30.090 --> 00:21:32.460 align:middle line:84% and we had a poet come in, Peter Klappert, 00:21:32.460 --> 00:21:34.300 align:middle line:90% and it just changed my life. 00:21:34.300 --> 00:21:35.940 align:middle line:84% I'm probably doing what I'm doing now 00:21:35.940 --> 00:21:38.400 align:middle line:84% because he showed up my senior year in high school 00:21:38.400 --> 00:21:41.520 align:middle line:84% and said it's OK to write poetry. 00:21:41.520 --> 00:21:43.500 align:middle line:84% It's OK to admit you're writing poetry. 00:21:43.500 --> 00:21:45.600 align:middle line:84% It's OK to actually try to publish a book 00:21:45.600 --> 00:21:49.380 align:middle line:84% and make a living being involved in literature. 00:21:49.380 --> 00:21:54.300 align:middle line:84% Also, a really important aspect is literacy, 00:21:54.300 --> 00:21:58.410 align:middle line:84% getting kids interested in reading because they can use it 00:21:58.410 --> 00:22:01.110 align:middle line:84% creatively rather than just-- it doesn't have to just 00:22:01.110 --> 00:22:03.275 align:middle line:90% be reading doing your homework. 00:22:03.275 --> 00:22:04.650 align:middle line:84% They can have an investment in it 00:22:04.650 --> 00:22:07.470 align:middle line:84% personally and find a form of expression 00:22:07.470 --> 00:22:09.840 align:middle line:84% through writing their own poetry. 00:22:09.840 --> 00:22:11.490 align:middle line:84% Another thing that we do at the center 00:22:11.490 --> 00:22:16.530 align:middle line:84% is we've sponsored things like a seniors' exploration seminar. 00:22:16.530 --> 00:22:19.920 align:middle line:84% And the senior citizens in this region 00:22:19.920 --> 00:22:23.640 align:middle line:90% are just really hot for poetry. 00:22:23.640 --> 00:22:28.110 align:middle line:84% We've got waiting lists for that seminar for a couple of years 00:22:28.110 --> 00:22:34.020 align:middle line:84% now, but there's a whole group of elderly people 00:22:34.020 --> 00:22:36.810 align:middle line:84% who have written almost all their lives 00:22:36.810 --> 00:22:38.560 align:middle line:84% and really haven't found a venue for that. 00:22:38.560 --> 00:22:40.230 align:middle line:84% So that's one of the things we do. 00:22:40.230 --> 00:22:42.870 align:middle line:84% And then there's also a prison workshop 00:22:42.870 --> 00:22:47.850 align:middle line:84% that Richard Shelton has been running for 13 years now. 00:22:47.850 --> 00:22:50.700 align:middle line:84% First, it was the Cimarron Correctional Facility. 00:22:50.700 --> 00:22:53.400 align:middle line:84% And now, he's at Santa Rita, but he's 00:22:53.400 --> 00:22:56.422 align:middle line:84% managed to take some of them in and have them become 00:22:56.422 --> 00:22:57.630 align:middle line:90% really interested in writing. 00:22:57.630 --> 00:22:59.213 align:middle line:84% And some of them have actually gone on 00:22:59.213 --> 00:23:03.210 align:middle line:84% to become, for instance, very famous like Jimmy Santiago Baca. 00:23:03.210 --> 00:23:07.750 align:middle line:84% He's probably his most noted former student- 00:23:07.750 --> 00:23:08.250 align:middle line:90% Wow. 00:23:08.250 --> 00:23:10.470 align:middle line:90% In that program. 00:23:10.470 --> 00:23:11.838 align:middle line:90% Interesting. 00:23:11.838 --> 00:23:13.380 align:middle line:84% Tell us a little bit more about-- you 00:23:13.380 --> 00:23:16.660 align:middle line:84% have a program that's the Tucson High poet-in-residence program. 00:23:16.660 --> 00:23:17.970 align:middle line:90% Is that ongoing now? 00:23:17.970 --> 00:23:20.430 align:middle line:84% Yeah, that'll be starting up this spring. 00:23:20.430 --> 00:23:21.570 align:middle line:90% What's that about? 00:23:21.570 --> 00:23:23.310 align:middle line:84% That's where we take a graduate student. 00:23:23.310 --> 00:23:26.897 align:middle line:84% And it's a GATship that we manage. 00:23:26.897 --> 00:23:28.980 align:middle line:84% We had trouble with that a couple of years because 00:23:28.980 --> 00:23:31.063 align:middle line:84% of funding, but now, I think we have that in place 00:23:31.063 --> 00:23:33.240 align:middle line:84% so that will be happening every year. 00:23:33.240 --> 00:23:36.120 align:middle line:84% We place one graduate student in Tucson High 00:23:36.120 --> 00:23:38.640 align:middle line:90% as a resource teacher all year. 00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:44.170 align:middle line:84% And they work with students' special programs about poetry, 00:23:44.170 --> 00:23:47.040 align:middle line:84% arranging poetry readings, encouraging the students 00:23:47.040 --> 00:23:50.040 align:middle line:90% to write and perform. 00:23:50.040 --> 00:23:52.590 align:middle line:84% That sounds like a unique experience for that person 00:23:52.590 --> 00:23:53.800 align:middle line:90% and also for the students. 00:23:53.800 --> 00:23:56.500 align:middle line:84% Yeah, for both, it's very valuable. 00:23:56.500 --> 00:23:57.000 align:middle line:90% Good. 00:23:57.000 --> 00:23:59.190 align:middle line:84% And something you'd like to read for us, Karen. 00:23:59.190 --> 00:24:02.760 align:middle line:84% Yeah, I was going to read this: Jane Hirshfield, who's 00:24:02.760 --> 00:24:05.460 align:middle line:90% coming on November 29. 00:24:05.460 --> 00:24:08.220 align:middle line:84% She, again, has a long list of accomplishments, 00:24:08.220 --> 00:24:09.670 align:middle line:90% and I won't go into all of that. 00:24:09.670 --> 00:24:15.150 align:middle line:84% But most recently, she won the San Francisco Poetry Center-- 00:24:15.150 --> 00:24:18.180 align:middle line:84% what is the-- it's the San Francisco Poetry Center Book 00:24:18.180 --> 00:24:19.770 align:middle line:84% Award, I guess, annual book award, 00:24:19.770 --> 00:24:22.170 align:middle line:90% which was given this summer. 00:24:22.170 --> 00:24:25.860 align:middle line:84% So this is Jane Hirshfield's, reading on November 29, 00:24:25.860 --> 00:24:28.080 align:middle line:90% "The Weighing." 00:24:28.080 --> 00:24:30.690 align:middle line:84% The heart's reasons seen clearly, 00:24:30.690 --> 00:24:34.620 align:middle line:84% even the hardest will carry its whip marks and sadness 00:24:34.620 --> 00:24:37.140 align:middle line:90% and must be forgiven. 00:24:37.140 --> 00:24:40.680 align:middle line:84% As the drought-starved eland forgives the drought-starved 00:24:40.680 --> 00:24:45.330 align:middle line:84% lion who finally takes her, enters willingly then the life 00:24:45.330 --> 00:24:49.260 align:middle line:84% she cannot refuse, and is lion, is fed, 00:24:49.260 --> 00:24:52.050 align:middle line:90% and does not remember the other. 00:24:52.050 --> 00:24:55.980 align:middle line:84% So few grains of happiness measured against all the dark, 00:24:55.980 --> 00:24:58.890 align:middle line:90% and still, the scales balance. 00:24:58.890 --> 00:25:01.980 align:middle line:84% The world asks of us only the strength we have, 00:25:01.980 --> 00:25:03.390 align:middle line:90% and we give it. 00:25:03.390 --> 00:25:07.820 align:middle line:84% Then it asks more, and we give it. 00:25:07.820 --> 00:25:08.360 align:middle line:90% Very nice. 00:25:08.360 --> 00:25:09.140 align:middle line:90% Thank you. 00:25:09.140 --> 00:25:12.680 align:middle line:84% Karen, what is your background, and how did you come to? 00:25:12.680 --> 00:25:15.100 align:middle line:90% We know the first impetus. 00:25:15.100 --> 00:25:16.980 align:middle line:90% In a Volvo. 00:25:16.980 --> 00:25:18.560 align:middle line:90% I grew up in Northern Virginia. 00:25:18.560 --> 00:25:21.770 align:middle line:84% And I went to school at the University of Virginia 00:25:21.770 --> 00:25:24.470 align:middle line:84% and got out, I don't know, '84, and studied architecture. 00:25:24.470 --> 00:25:28.820 align:middle line:84% But I moved out here seven years ago to study at the MFA program 00:25:28.820 --> 00:25:30.380 align:middle line:90% at the University of Arizona. 00:25:30.380 --> 00:25:35.420 align:middle line:84% And I did manage to get in after a little finagling, I suppose, 00:25:35.420 --> 00:25:38.030 align:middle line:84% and prove that I was worthy, something like that. 00:25:38.030 --> 00:25:41.450 align:middle line:84% And I started volunteering at the Poetry Center something 00:25:41.450 --> 00:25:44.178 align:middle line:84% like five years ago, and a grant program came up. 00:25:44.178 --> 00:25:46.220 align:middle line:84% Well, actually, it was a really wonderful program 00:25:46.220 --> 00:25:48.830 align:middle line:84% that the center did a couple of years ago. 00:25:48.830 --> 00:25:51.320 align:middle line:84% During the year, we went to 11 different sites 00:25:51.320 --> 00:25:55.160 align:middle line:84% in southwestern Arizona, Southern Arizona that's 00:25:55.160 --> 00:25:59.690 align:middle line:84% what I mean, in little towns and community centers and libraries. 00:25:59.690 --> 00:26:03.170 align:middle line:84% We put together an exhibit of the Poetry Center's, and it 00:26:03.170 --> 00:26:06.290 align:middle line:84% was just an extraordinary thing to see. 00:26:06.290 --> 00:26:08.120 align:middle line:84% Really, we discovered a lot of things 00:26:08.120 --> 00:26:12.380 align:middle line:84% that were in the collection that had been sort of ignored. 00:26:12.380 --> 00:26:14.300 align:middle line:84% But that's how I started off there, 00:26:14.300 --> 00:26:16.700 align:middle line:84% and I've been there for a couple of years 00:26:16.700 --> 00:26:18.920 align:middle line:90% now as the events coordinator. 00:26:18.920 --> 00:26:22.490 align:middle line:84% I also direct the Tucson Poetry Festival, 00:26:22.490 --> 00:26:24.293 align:middle line:84% which is not affiliated with the center, 00:26:24.293 --> 00:26:26.210 align:middle line:84% although everyone calls the center to find out 00:26:26.210 --> 00:26:27.335 align:middle line:90% about the festival on this. 00:26:27.335 --> 00:26:30.110 align:middle line:84% Yeah, and you're there, so sometimes they get answers. 00:26:30.110 --> 00:26:32.090 align:middle line:90% Right, it's a little confusing. 00:26:32.090 --> 00:26:33.240 align:middle line:90% When does that happen? 00:26:33.240 --> 00:26:34.520 align:middle line:90% That happens every spring. 00:26:34.520 --> 00:26:36.770 align:middle line:84% It's an annual event, and that's three days. 00:26:36.770 --> 00:26:39.410 align:middle line:84% It's just called a three-day celebration of poetry. 00:26:39.410 --> 00:26:43.520 align:middle line:84% And we have readings and workshops and open mics. 00:26:43.520 --> 00:26:46.160 align:middle line:84% It's more of a community really out there. 00:26:46.160 --> 00:26:48.300 align:middle line:84% Once a year, the community gets involved. 00:26:48.300 --> 00:26:48.800 align:middle line:90% Good. 00:26:48.800 --> 00:26:50.480 align:middle line:84% Maybe we'll find out about that in the spring, 00:26:50.480 --> 00:26:51.240 align:middle line:90% and I'll have you back. 00:26:51.240 --> 00:26:51.460 align:middle line:90% It's always interesting. 00:26:51.460 --> 00:26:52.710 align:middle line:90% Well, that would be wonderful. 00:26:52.710 --> 00:26:56.600 align:middle line:84% I'd love to take up a half an hour talking about that. 00:26:56.600 --> 00:26:59.390 align:middle line:84% Mark, tell us a little bit about the funding of the center, 00:26:59.390 --> 00:27:02.960 align:middle line:84% because with a lot of centers like this, 00:27:02.960 --> 00:27:04.830 align:middle line:90% funding is an important part. 00:27:04.830 --> 00:27:09.620 align:middle line:84% Well, of course, for the arts now is much in the news. 00:27:09.620 --> 00:27:12.870 align:middle line:84% The Poetry Center receives funds from a number of sources. 00:27:12.870 --> 00:27:15.260 align:middle line:84% We have this endowment, which was 00:27:15.260 --> 00:27:18.380 align:middle line:84% begun by Ruth Stephan, which provides most 00:27:18.380 --> 00:27:20.300 align:middle line:90% of the funds for our library. 00:27:20.300 --> 00:27:22.880 align:middle line:84% It does not pay for anything else. 00:27:22.880 --> 00:27:27.230 align:middle line:84% Unfortunately, it's only able to cover those expenses. 00:27:27.230 --> 00:27:31.160 align:middle line:84% We have received money from the Arizona Commission on the Arts 00:27:31.160 --> 00:27:36.470 align:middle line:84% that is for support of our reading series specifically. 00:27:36.470 --> 00:27:41.510 align:middle line:84% We receive money from individual donors, which is very important. 00:27:41.510 --> 00:27:44.930 align:middle line:84% It provides general operating funds that-- 00:27:44.930 --> 00:27:47.780 align:middle line:90% grant money has very specific-- 00:27:47.780 --> 00:27:50.180 align:middle line:84% one can only use it in very specific ways. 00:27:50.180 --> 00:27:55.970 align:middle line:84% And that money allows us to keep the office open and running. 00:27:55.970 --> 00:27:58.580 align:middle line:84% We receive money from the University 00:27:58.580 --> 00:28:01.370 align:middle line:84% of Arizona Foundation annually, which 00:28:01.370 --> 00:28:03.080 align:middle line:90% is general operating support. 00:28:03.080 --> 00:28:05.120 align:middle line:84% And also, the University of Arizona 00:28:05.120 --> 00:28:08.780 align:middle line:84% provides us with a certain amount of funds and support 00:28:08.780 --> 00:28:11.610 align:middle line:84% as well, which is also very important. 00:28:11.610 --> 00:28:14.060 align:middle line:84% We have in the past received funds 00:28:14.060 --> 00:28:16.190 align:middle line:84% from the National Endowment for the Arts. 00:28:16.190 --> 00:28:20.630 align:middle line:84% And that money allowed us to carry out 00:28:20.630 --> 00:28:25.010 align:middle line:84% a very important portion of our reading series. 00:28:25.010 --> 00:28:26.750 align:middle line:84% For years, we have been sponsoring 00:28:26.750 --> 00:28:30.380 align:middle line:84% a collaborative reading series with Arizona State University, 00:28:30.380 --> 00:28:32.090 align:middle line:90% Northern Arizona University. 00:28:32.090 --> 00:28:35.640 align:middle line:84% And now, that money is in jeopardy. 00:28:35.640 --> 00:28:38.760 align:middle line:84% So as you know, with the National Endowment 00:28:38.760 --> 00:28:40.410 align:middle line:84% for the Arts suffering, it's not going 00:28:40.410 --> 00:28:41.610 align:middle line:90% to be available any longer. 00:28:41.610 --> 00:28:42.840 align:middle line:84% Do you have a phone number for folks 00:28:42.840 --> 00:28:45.257 align:middle line:84% that would like some more information on the Poetry Center 00:28:45.257 --> 00:28:47.100 align:middle line:90% and maybe to donate? 00:28:47.100 --> 00:28:48.727 align:middle line:90% Absolutely. 00:28:48.727 --> 00:28:50.310 align:middle line:84% Karen, do you want to give our number? 00:28:50.310 --> 00:28:54.810 align:middle line:84% OK, the Poetry Center, you can reach Mark or myself there, 00:28:54.810 --> 00:28:57.917 align:middle line:90% is 321-7760. 00:28:57.917 --> 00:29:00.375 align:middle line:84% And we can give you information on the reading series then. 00:29:00.375 --> 00:29:00.540 align:middle line:90% Great. 00:29:00.540 --> 00:29:02.390 align:middle line:84% And it sounds like a great reading series. 00:29:02.390 --> 00:29:04.810 align:middle line:84% Thanks so much for joining me to let folks know about it. 00:29:04.810 --> 00:29:05.310 align:middle line:90% Great. 00:29:05.310 --> 00:29:06.060 align:middle line:90% Thank you very much. 00:29:06.060 --> 00:29:06.360 align:middle line:90% Thank you. 00:29:06.360 --> 00:29:06.660 align:middle line:90% Bye-bye. 00:29:06.660 --> 00:29:08.640 align:middle line:84% This is Topic of Tucson, and I'm Vicki Doyle. 00:29:08.640 --> 00:29:10.470 align:middle line:90% Join us next week. 00:29:10.470 --> 00:29:13.820 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:29:13.820 --> 00:29:33.000 align:middle line:90%