UA News

The UA's Poetry Center begins the commemoration of its 50-year history this month with events that include readings by a Pulitzer Prize winner, a former U.S. Poet Laureate, concerts, workshops, a book club series and other offerings.

The Poetry Center has over a half-century evolved into an internationally known and widely regarded site with a collection largely unmatched at comparable centers throughout the world.

Though its origins were marked by a sharp focus on collecting and promoting poetry – a continuing area of focus – the University of Arizona center has since become known as a literary arts hub with educational and outreach offerings as comprehensive as its collection.

"While we are a poetry library and poetry is at the heart of our history, it is important the people understand that we are interested in literature in a wide sense," said Gail Browne, executive director of the Poetry Center.

The center has planned a series of events that begin this month and run through April to honor its 50-year history.

To commemorate its anniversary, the center's event offerings – most of which will be held in the Helen S. Schaefer Building, 1508 E. Helen St. – will explore its evolution, the history of corridos in Mexico, the American experience and human connections across cultures, political structures and lands. 

"This also will reflect on our history and our great resources," Browne said, noting that the center's collection is comprised of nearly 70,000 book recordings, photograph broadsides, reference materials and other items. "Every month we’ll celebrate a different aspect of the Poetry Center’s
history, outreach and collaboration with others."

The center also is preparing for expansions and new additions in the future.

Currently, a project is under way to offer its audio/video collection – works that have been documented since the early 1960s – online.

During the summer, the National Endowment for the Humanities granted the center $49,000 in funding to expand the development of the audio and video collections. 

The collection includes original recordings of prominent writers such as Louise Bogan, Robert Creeley, Adrienne Rich, Denise Levertov and W.S. Merwin, and could be accessible online as early as next month. 

Among the center's upcoming events are:

• Sept. 10, 8 p.m.: The center will host a reading with poets Sherin Bitsui, Alberto Rio, Natalia Toledo and Ofelia Zepeda. 
• Sept. 23, 8 p.m.: Rick Moody will read at the center as part of the UA Prose Series. Moody has written several novels, including "Garden State" and "The Ice Storm," which have earned him nationally competitive awards.
• Sept. 25, 3 p.m.: The Bilingual Corrido Contest for High School Students, now in its 11th year, will be held, featuring discussions and music sampling of contest winners.
• Oct. 2, 7-9 p.m.: The center will host an outdoor concert and benefit with Los Changitos Feos, Groupo iMas and Mariachi Tapatio. All proceeds will support the center's Corrido Contest for High School Students.
• Oct. 7, 8 p.m.: Pulitzer Prize winner Gary Snyder, an environmentalist and writer who has published 18 collections of poetry and prose, will read his work, returning to the center for the first time in 40 years. The center will host an Oct. 4 Shop Talk, featuring an in-depth discussion of Snyder's work at 6 p.m.
• Oct. 14, 8 p.m.: A film by the center's founder, Ruth Walgreen Stephan, will be screened. The 1971 film, "Zen in Ryoko-In," documents ceremonies and daily practices conducted in a Zen Buddhist temple.
• Nov. 7, 7 p.m.: An Afternoon with Billy Collins and Friends will be held at Centennial Hall. Collins, a former U.S. Poet Laureate, along with other guests will read their favorite poems at the event, which is being held through a collaboration with UApresents.
• Dec. 1, 8 p.m.: The Contemporary Fairy Tale: A Reading and Discussion is being curated by UA creative writing faculty members and the Prose Series. Editor and UA alumna Kate Bernheimer and authors Kathryn Davis, Lydia Millet and Joy Williams will each read a piece from "My Mother She Killed me, My Father He Ate Me: Forty New Fairy Tales," an anthology of fair tales published this fall.
• Jan. 4 - Feb. 26: A Look Back at the Next Word will feature emerging writers. The center has been following the careers of a number of writers and will feature their work in an exhibit of photographs and books.
• March 26, 2 p.m.: The Tucson Lit Press Fest will celebrate the work of local publishers and poets with readings, book-binding, book fair, silent auction and a panel discussion. 
• April 30, 10 a.m.- 4 p.m.: The center will host its Young at Art Festival featuring musical, theatrical and visual art performances geared toward youth.
  

The Nov. 7 event at Centennial Hall will serve as a benefit for the center.

"It is really the celebration we are hoping the community will attend to show us their support," said Annie Guthrie, the center's associate marketing specialist.

Throughout the year, the UA center also sponsors lectures, workshops, field trips and residencies for writers and outreach programs for youth and teenagers, among other things. Additionally, it hosts a collection of rare books and a "Shop Talk" series, discussions led by specialists and educators. 

"A Closer Look Book Club," the center's book club, will read and evaluate the work of some of the best-known American novelists, such as Jack Kerouac, Joyce Carol Oates, Toni Morrison, Cormac McCarthy, Tim O'Brien and Junot Díaz.

"It's 50 years of American novels – a community event people may not know about," Guthrie said.

"We are doubling and tripling what we typically do to celebrate the 50th," she added. "There are many poetry centers, but what sets us apart is our library – an ever-expanding collection – and our community programs. Those two things combined make us more of a tour de force in the community."