Hello, everybody.
Welcome.
How are you all?
Good.
Are you warm?
Yes.
OK.
If you're not warm, just make a good friend.
And get-- I'm glad you guys are here.
Thanks for coming on a Thursday night to the Poetry Center,
and braving whatever weather comes our way.
We were joking, and we could say,
welcome to the Poetry Center in Seattle.
But we're in Tucson, and we're happy for the rain
and happy that you are here, also
for poems on a Thursday night.
Which also feels like an important sign
of order in the world.
And I appreciate you being a part
of the things that happen here.
So thank you for coming and joining us.
We could not be more thrilled to have the poets Matthew Olzmann
and Vievee Francis here with us.
And so, a big round of applause to them.
[APPLAUSE]
They've traveled almost as far as you possibly
can to come visit us in Tucson.
And so we're thrilled that they're here.
We've had a really delightful visit
with them over the past many days here in Tucson.
And a true joy to talk with them about poets
that are parts of their orbits and their histories, and the way
they've found their way forward and their lives as poets.
That help them think about the things that they think about--
help them think about the art form.
And so that's been a gift to us at the Poetry Center, where
we spend so much energy and time thinking about poetry
and its connections to the humans and the makers of the art
form too.
So huge kudos and a great pleasure, and welcome you guys.
We're so glad that you're here.
I want to tell you about a couple
of things that are coming up.
My name is Tyler.
I work as the director here at the Poetry Center.
Our last reading and lecture of the fall semester
happens right after the break of the Thanksgiving holidays.
And so on December third, which is a Wednesday,
we'll have the poet Anselm Berrigan here who'll
give a lecture on a topic--
where's Paola?
I think she's almost over here--
on a lecture that we're still learning the topic of.
But if you know Anselm Berrigan's work
at all prolific poet and also the son of two poets.
So the son of Alice Notley and Ted
Berrigan and very interested in traveling to Tucson.
It's a collaboration with a group called the Bagley Wright
Lecture Series, which supports mid-career poets
and thinking about poetry and poetics.
And giving them some space and time to do that work
and then to present it.
And so it was really exciting to Anselm to do some of that
here in Arizona.
Alice and Ted both spent some time in Bisbee.
And so, so having that connection was important to him
and important to us.
So we're thrilled about that.
That's December third, the Wednesday, seven o'clock
back here at the Poetry Center.
It promises to be a slight bit warmer, so come back.
On the fourth, the next night, Anselm will read from his poetry
also back here at seven o'clock at the Poetry Center.
So a twofer that week, and we hope
you'll join us for both of those events, Wednesday,
and Thursday, both at seven o'clock, Poetry Center.
After that, we have a break.
And so I just want to remind you,
if you haven't heard this message yet,
the Poetry Center is going to be closed
to the public from December--
after our hours on December 13, which is the Saturday hours
that we have.
We're going to close to the public.
We'll reopen on January sixth, the Tuesday.
And that is to allow for some work with our HVAC system.
And so when you come back, we're going to have a fantastic space
that will be warm and inviting and dehumidified,
and we'll feel like an A+ HVAC experience.
And thanks for putting up with us while that work happens.
We're thrilled to have that accomplished
and to have the Poetry Center set up for many decades to come.
And once it's completed,
then the spring season looms.
And so we're really optimistic and excited
about all the poetry that's going
to come your way in the spring.
How many of you have taken classes and workshops
at the Poetry Center in the past?
Hooray!
What a good group.
If you haven't done that, don't fear.
There's a chance for you to do this.
And our spring season of classes will launch.
We'll announce them on December second.
They'll open to the public on December ninth.
And at December second to the ninth,
there will be our financial-aid period.
So we want to make sure the classes are accessible to as
many people as possible.
There is a small fee associated with them,
but we keep it as small as we can.
And we hope you'll be interested in those
and take advantage of them.
And that's when they'll be available to the general public
on December ninth.
And financial aid is just before that on December second.
And that starts first.
Our first readings in January just to give a quick heads up.
We're really excited to be launching
a new residency for queer poets, with some new support
for the Poetry Center.
It's named for the poets HD and HD's long relationship
with Bryher.
And so that will be the poets Franny Choi and Cameron
Awkward-Rich, who are going to be with us and reading
on January 15th here at the Poetry Center.
So be excited about that.
And then our next reading will be also a double reading
with two American poets, Eleanor Wilner and Alicia Ostriker,
on January 29.
So we're excited about those.
And that's the tip of the iceberg
for the rest of the spring.
So look forward to that.
The information is coming soon.
The calendar is coming soon.
That's what's coming up at the Poetry Center.
It's been a really beautiful season.
Thanks for being a part of it.
For the poets tonight: Matthew is going to read first
and I'm going to welcome up in a moment, my colleague
to introduce him.
After Matthew, Vievee will read.
And Vievee will to be introduced by my colleague Aria Pahari,
who's our library specialist.
Tremendous poet.
If you walk through the front door of the Poetry Center,
the first person you see is Aria.
And so we're really excited about this.
And then to introduce Matthew first
is our library director, also a terrific poet, Sarah Kortemeier.
Please help me welcome my colleague Sarah Kortemeier.
[APPLAUSE]