WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.280 align:middle line:90% How is everybody? 00:00:02.280 --> 00:00:03.340 align:middle line:90% How are we doing? 00:00:03.340 --> 00:00:03.960 align:middle line:90% [CHEERING] 00:00:03.960 --> 00:00:04.520 align:middle line:90% OK? 00:00:04.520 --> 00:00:05.880 align:middle line:90% [CLAPPING] 00:00:05.880 --> 00:00:06.920 align:middle line:90% Hooray. 00:00:06.920 --> 00:00:07.770 align:middle line:90% That's all it takes. 00:00:07.770 --> 00:00:10.020 align:middle line:84% You say, how are you doing, and people start clapping. 00:00:10.020 --> 00:00:10.680 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHS] 00:00:10.680 --> 00:00:12.800 align:middle line:90% It's great. 00:00:12.800 --> 00:00:14.940 align:middle line:84% This is the only time that'll happen in my life. 00:00:14.940 --> 00:00:15.840 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHS] 00:00:15.840 --> 00:00:16.860 align:middle line:90% I just want to start. 00:00:16.860 --> 00:00:20.220 align:middle line:84% We found a phone, so if anyone is missing a phone, 00:00:20.220 --> 00:00:23.120 align:middle line:84% it looks like this, it's red in the back. 00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:23.960 align:middle line:90% Is that yours, Pam? 00:00:23.960 --> 00:00:24.580 align:middle line:90% OK, great. 00:00:24.580 --> 00:00:27.880 align:middle line:90% Let me rehome this phone. 00:00:27.880 --> 00:00:30.120 align:middle line:90% [INAUDIBLE] 00:00:30.120 --> 00:00:34.360 align:middle line:90% 00:00:34.360 --> 00:00:35.900 align:middle line:84% Thanks, everybody, for being here. 00:00:35.900 --> 00:00:38.980 align:middle line:84% I want to say one exciting thing. 00:00:38.980 --> 00:00:42.600 align:middle line:84% It's so new, the ink still smells fresh. 00:00:42.600 --> 00:00:44.240 align:middle line:84% This is our calendar for the spring 00:00:44.240 --> 00:00:46.880 align:middle line:84% season at the Poetry Center, which 00:00:46.880 --> 00:00:48.800 align:middle line:90% should have been here days ago. 00:00:48.800 --> 00:00:50.280 align:middle line:84% And you're all here without maybe 00:00:50.280 --> 00:00:52.820 align:middle line:84% getting this calendar in the mail, which is a miracle. 00:00:52.820 --> 00:00:55.640 align:middle line:84% And I'm so proud of you for finding your way to the Poetry 00:00:55.640 --> 00:00:58.380 align:middle line:84% Center before the calendar has found its way to you. 00:00:58.380 --> 00:00:59.380 align:middle line:90% Take this home with you. 00:00:59.380 --> 00:01:00.780 align:middle line:84% This will tell you about everything else that's 00:01:00.780 --> 00:01:03.038 align:middle line:84% going to happen at the Poetry Center this spring, 00:01:03.038 --> 00:01:04.580 align:middle line:84% including upcoming readings, and I'll 00:01:04.580 --> 00:01:06.580 align:middle line:84% touch on a couple of those in a second. 00:01:06.580 --> 00:01:07.840 align:middle line:90% But it's very attractive. 00:01:07.840 --> 00:01:10.940 align:middle line:84% It will fit very nicely on your fridge, or in your living room, 00:01:10.940 --> 00:01:12.200 align:middle line:90% or in other places. 00:01:12.200 --> 00:01:13.220 align:middle line:84% And there's a lot of great poets who 00:01:13.220 --> 00:01:15.720 align:middle line:84% are going to come visit us this season at the Poetry Center, 00:01:15.720 --> 00:01:17.540 align:middle line:84% and we're really excited about it. 00:01:17.540 --> 00:01:22.460 align:middle line:84% It is also, of course, an incredibly challenging time. 00:01:22.460 --> 00:01:25.980 align:middle line:84% And I don't want to gloss the gravity of this moment, 00:01:25.980 --> 00:01:27.437 align:middle line:84% but I am thinking about all of us. 00:01:27.437 --> 00:01:29.020 align:middle line:84% And if you're like me, you're probably 00:01:29.020 --> 00:01:30.860 align:middle line:84% thinking about what you might do, 00:01:30.860 --> 00:01:34.260 align:middle line:84% or what your relationship is to this moment. 00:01:34.260 --> 00:01:36.900 align:middle line:84% And I think among all of the options for what 00:01:36.900 --> 00:01:38.860 align:middle line:90% those relationships might be. 00:01:38.860 --> 00:01:41.860 align:middle line:84% I reflect back on the poet, Aracelis Girmay, 00:01:41.860 --> 00:01:43.600 align:middle line:90% and her poem The Black Maria. 00:01:43.600 --> 00:01:45.980 align:middle line:84% And in that poem, there's a line that says, 00:01:45.980 --> 00:01:49.965 align:middle line:84% "and so to tenderness I add my action." 00:01:49.965 --> 00:01:51.340 align:middle line:84% And I think one thing that poetry 00:01:51.340 --> 00:01:55.500 align:middle line:84% can do for us is hold us to tenderness, the tenderness 00:01:55.500 --> 00:01:59.340 align:middle line:84% of seeing how one mind moves in a way in the world that is sung 00:01:59.340 --> 00:02:02.520 align:middle line:84% to us in language, and that is often then placed before you 00:02:02.520 --> 00:02:04.560 align:middle line:90% as a reader or as a listener. 00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:07.280 align:middle line:84% And that relationship between a poet and a listener, 00:02:07.280 --> 00:02:11.080 align:middle line:84% or a poet and a reader is an astonishing thing. 00:02:11.080 --> 00:02:13.480 align:middle line:84% And I want to commend all of you for choosing 00:02:13.480 --> 00:02:17.120 align:middle line:84% the tenderness that poems make possible tonight. 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:20.160 align:middle line:84% And I hope you take that with you into this new year, 00:02:20.160 --> 00:02:25.360 align:middle line:84% and then you think about maybe what action you might add to it. 00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:28.840 align:middle line:84% In this calendar, the next reading that's coming up 00:02:28.840 --> 00:02:31.780 align:middle line:84% is with Alicia Ostriker and Eleanor Wilner. 00:02:31.780 --> 00:02:33.460 align:middle line:84% And that's on the 29th of January, 00:02:33.460 --> 00:02:36.630 align:middle line:84% and that'll be back here in this space at the Poetry Center at 7 00:02:36.630 --> 00:02:37.133 align:middle line:90% o'clock. 00:02:37.133 --> 00:02:39.300 align:middle line:84% And again, many great readings to follow after that. 00:02:39.300 --> 00:02:40.960 align:middle line:84% And I won't spend time going through all of it 00:02:40.960 --> 00:02:43.120 align:middle line:84% because we have lots of good things to talk about. 00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:44.662 align:middle line:84% But know that it's all there, and you 00:02:44.662 --> 00:02:47.920 align:middle line:84% can find it in this piece of paper that you'll take with you. 00:02:47.920 --> 00:02:50.420 align:middle line:84% And this reading tonight is something new for us, 00:02:50.420 --> 00:02:52.200 align:middle line:84% and we're so thrilled about this. 00:02:52.200 --> 00:02:54.460 align:middle line:84% And if you follow the Poetry Center online, 00:02:54.460 --> 00:02:55.835 align:middle line:84% that you may have seen that we've 00:02:55.835 --> 00:02:57.920 align:middle line:84% announced the completion of fundraising 00:02:57.920 --> 00:03:01.860 align:middle line:84% for three new endowed readings in our series. 00:03:01.860 --> 00:03:02.960 align:middle line:90% That's pretty awesome. 00:03:02.960 --> 00:03:04.060 align:middle line:90% [APPLAUSE] 00:03:04.060 --> 00:03:06.685 align:middle line:90% Really awesome. 00:03:06.685 --> 00:03:09.060 align:middle line:84% And this work is part of the strategic plan at the Poetry 00:03:09.060 --> 00:03:11.180 align:middle line:84% Center that's called The Belonging Initiative. 00:03:11.180 --> 00:03:13.780 align:middle line:84% Two of these readings are going to come in the future. 00:03:13.780 --> 00:03:15.940 align:middle line:84% And so one will be the Ofelia Zepeda 00:03:15.940 --> 00:03:19.000 align:middle line:84% Reading for Indigenous Poets, which we're so excited about. 00:03:19.000 --> 00:03:22.140 align:middle line:84% And another will be The Alison Hawthorne Deming Residency 00:03:22.140 --> 00:03:24.420 align:middle line:90% for Environmental Writers. 00:03:24.420 --> 00:03:26.940 align:middle line:84% Lest there is any confusion, Alison and Ofelia 00:03:26.940 --> 00:03:28.420 align:middle line:90% are doing great. 00:03:28.420 --> 00:03:29.680 align:middle line:90% And Alison's here. 00:03:29.680 --> 00:03:30.720 align:middle line:90% Where is Alison? 00:03:30.720 --> 00:03:31.220 align:middle line:90% Hooray. 00:03:31.220 --> 00:03:31.720 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHS] 00:03:31.720 --> 00:03:33.100 align:middle line:90% [APPLAUSE] 00:03:33.100 --> 00:03:34.940 align:middle line:84% But we're really excited to secure 00:03:34.940 --> 00:03:37.820 align:middle line:84% the legacy of these amazing women and these poets 00:03:37.820 --> 00:03:40.180 align:middle line:84% through these programs, and affirm our commitment 00:03:40.180 --> 00:03:43.040 align:middle line:84% at the Poetry Center to these communities of writers, 00:03:43.040 --> 00:03:46.460 align:middle line:84% these ways of thinking, and newly visible ways building 00:03:46.460 --> 00:03:51.020 align:middle line:84% on our work that's happened over the last 65 years. 00:03:51.020 --> 00:03:53.163 align:middle line:84% Another of those readings is happening tonight. 00:03:53.163 --> 00:03:54.580 align:middle line:84% And we're thrilled to be launching 00:03:54.580 --> 00:03:58.080 align:middle line:84% the third endowed program, which is called the H.D and Bryher 00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:00.800 align:middle line:90% Residency for LGBTQ Poets. 00:04:00.800 --> 00:04:04.080 align:middle line:84% Could not be happier to have Cameron Awkward-Rich and Franny 00:04:04.080 --> 00:04:07.440 align:middle line:84% Choi here with us in Tucson to bring this to life. 00:04:07.440 --> 00:04:10.160 align:middle line:84% The dream of these programs is to make space for artists 00:04:10.160 --> 00:04:13.120 align:middle line:84% to undertake new work, to rest and recharge 00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:15.280 align:middle line:84% in the Sonoran Desert, and to share work 00:04:15.280 --> 00:04:17.380 align:middle line:90% with audiences in Tucson. 00:04:17.380 --> 00:04:19.800 align:middle line:84% And in doing so, we want to celebrate 00:04:19.800 --> 00:04:23.800 align:middle line:84% the enormous, the life-giving, the ongoing contributions 00:04:23.800 --> 00:04:27.720 align:middle line:84% of queer practitioners to the landscape of American poetry 00:04:27.720 --> 00:04:29.480 align:middle line:90% and poetics. 00:04:29.480 --> 00:04:32.200 align:middle line:84% We're likewise excited to carve space for new ways 00:04:32.200 --> 00:04:36.520 align:middle line:84% to make the poetry's values legible in this moment. 00:04:36.520 --> 00:04:39.200 align:middle line:84% And in a moment, we'll hear from Tim Schaffner, who 00:04:39.200 --> 00:04:41.500 align:middle line:84% along with his wife, Anne Maley-Schaffner, 00:04:41.500 --> 00:04:43.960 align:middle line:84% have made this new program possible. 00:04:43.960 --> 00:04:46.120 align:middle line:84% I hope as I welcome Tim up to the stage 00:04:46.120 --> 00:04:50.040 align:middle line:84% to say a couple of remarks, you will join me in raucous applause 00:04:50.040 --> 00:04:52.300 align:middle line:84% for their work to do this tonight, 00:04:52.300 --> 00:04:54.100 align:middle line:90% but also into the future. 00:04:54.100 --> 00:04:55.720 align:middle line:90% [APPLAUSE] 00:04:55.720 --> 00:04:59.630 align:middle line:84% Please welcome Tim Schaffner to tell us a little bit about this.