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University of Arizona Poetry Center
@uapoetrycenter.bsky.social
490 followers 140 following 66 posts
“The best living room in America for reading poetry.”

poetry.arizona.edu | https://linktr.ee/poetrycenter
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uapoetrycenter.bsky.social
To celebrate our final school year of the Zine and Zine Libraries theme for our Brave Books Program, we are asking for zine submissions from K-12 students. We accept zines by students of all grades, about any topic!

poetry.arizona.edu/blog/celebra...
November 14, 2025 at 9:33 PM
uapoetrycenter.bsky.social
Celebrating the poet Andrea Gibson, you won't want to miss "Come See Me in the Good Light."

Playing for ONE NIGHT ONLY at The Loft Cinema
Wed Nov 19, 7:30pm
November 12, 2025 at 10:19 PM
uapoetrycenter.bsky.social
Hurry! Only a few spots remain in this upcoming class!

Explore poetry and superbly dark night skies at 7,000 feet in this unique writing workshop focused on poetry and astronomy.

Date: Nov 15, from 3:30 - 8:30 pm
Cost: $150

poetry.arizona.edu/calendar/poe...
November 4, 2025 at 8:05 PM
uapoetrycenter.bsky.social
Join us for a Poetry Reading with Tracy K. Smith, former poet laureate, as part of the Tucson Humanities Festival!

Thursday, October 23, 2025 - 7:00pm

poetry.arizona.edu/calendar/tuc...

You're also invited to livestream from anywhere: poetry.arizona.edu/readings/live
October 17, 2025 at 7:59 PM
uapoetrycenter.bsky.social
You never have to miss a poetry reading! Anyone, anywhere can attend Poetry Center readings live from your phone, iPad, or computer!

poetry.arizona.edu/readings/live

Our next reading will feature Josh Riedel and Thomas Dai
Thursday, September 25, 2025 - 7:00pm
September 23, 2025 at 7:56 PM
uapoetrycenter.bsky.social
Join us TONIGHT for a poetry reading with Jennifer Chang!

Sept 4 at 7:00 pm at the Poetry Center — Come in-person or watch via livestream 😊

poetry.arizona.edu/calendar/rea...
September 4, 2025 at 3:33 PM
uapoetrycenter.bsky.social
Since the 2023 #SealeyChallenge, @nicolesealey.bsky.social has entrusted the University of Arizona’s Poetry Center with caring for this incredible month of reading poetry. Let's enter this poetic pilgrimage together as we pursue the radical joy of reading 31 books of poetry in 31 days.
July 30, 2025 at 5:00 PM
uapoetrycenter.bsky.social
Since the 2023 #SealeyChallenge, @Nic_Sealey has entrusted the University of Arizona’s Poetry Center with caring for this incredible month of reading poetry. Let's enter this poetic pilgrimage together as we pursue the radical joy of reading 31 books of poetry in 31 days.
July 30, 2025 at 2:27 PM
uapoetrycenter.bsky.social
Very few spots remain in this generative workshop taught by Kimberly Blaeser!! Register today!

poetry.arizona.edu/calendar/ill...
January 21, 2025 at 6:04 PM
uapoetrycenter.bsky.social
Hurry! Few seats remain in this upcoming Poetry Center class!

Geopoetics: Reading & Writing at Planetary Scale with Kathy Wu
Saturday, January 18, 2025 - 1:00pm to Saturday, February 1, 2025 - 3:00pm

Register today:
poetry.arizona.edu/calendar/geo...
January 8, 2025 at 7:58 PM
uapoetrycenter.bsky.social
Submissions open soon for the 2025 Haiku Hike!

The 6th Annual Haiku Hike, presented by the Downtown Tucson Partnership & the University of Arizona Poetry Center, features 20 winning haiku displayed in planters along Congress Street and Stone Avenue.

downtowntucson.org/events/haiku-hike
January 7, 2025 at 11:47 PM
uapoetrycenter.bsky.social
December 11, 2024 at 7:15 PM
uapoetrycenter.bsky.social
Get excited for this incredible lineup of writing classes and workshops slated for Spring 2025! FINANCIAL AID IS OPEN NOW THRU DEC 16!!

poetry.arizona.edu/blog/spring-...

Financial aid awards will be offered to cover the tuition cost of a course offered—spread the word!
December 11, 2024 at 7:14 PM
uapoetrycenter.bsky.social
In collaboration with the University of Arizona’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies, we are proud to present a reading by Hala Alyan.

Join us TOMORROW November 21, 2024 - 7:00pm at the Poetry Center—or tune in via livestream here: poetry.arizona.edu/readings/live
November 20, 2024 at 9:30 PM
uapoetrycenter.bsky.social
Grateful for this moving new blog piece by guest contributor Saraiya Kanning. poetry.arizona.edu/blog/teachin...
This is why we turn to the arts, where we find tools to put the unspeakable into words or images. To express. And in doing so we weave connections of empathy and validation. Giving birth and the subsequent task of caring for a baby has been a deep cleaning of the spirit, the excess of life scrubbed out of corners. What remains? Gratitude and empathy that bring me to my knees every day. Every relationship is shot through with new meaning. Don’t we all want to be held by the universe? Don’t we all want to know it will get better? I believe poetry can accomplish this. Poetry can, in a sense, mother us through the storm.
April 16, 2024 at 9:38 PM
uapoetrycenter.bsky.social
Ice-cream, murals, poetry, and a self-paced tour: Join us for a celebration of the recently completed Speedway Corridor Mural project! April 23 at 5:00 pm Free street parking after 5:00 poetry.arizona.edu/calendar/spe...
April 11, 2024 at 5:29 PM
uapoetrycenter.bsky.social
Tonight at 7:00 pm, we warmly invite you to The Place Where Clouds Are Formed, featuring poets Ofelia Zepeda, Amber Lee Ortega and Su:k Chu:vak Fulwilder.

The event will also be livestreamed here: poetry.arizona.edu/readings/live
A portrait of Ofelia Zepeda, Amber Lee Ortega and Su:k Chu:vak Fulwilder
April 4, 2024 at 9:24 PM
uapoetrycenter.bsky.social
Stay up-to-date on the latest Poetry Center news. (P.S. We only send one email a week) poetry.arizona.edu/connect
April 2, 2024 at 9:47 PM
uapoetrycenter.bsky.social
John Murillo reads at the Poetry Center TOMORROW, March 14 at 7:00 pm. Everyone is welcome to join!

You can also join by livestream here: poetry.arizona.edu/readings/live
March 13, 2024 at 4:49 PM
uapoetrycenter.bsky.social
"Start with loss. Lose everything. Then lose it all again." Come check out John Murillo's books of poetry—"Up Jump the Boogie" and "Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry"—ahead of his reading this week!
Poetry books by John Murillo: Up Jump the Boogie and Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry Variations on a Theme by Elizabeth Bishop BY JOHN MURILLO Start with loss. Lose everything. Then lose it all again. Lose a good woman on a bad day. Find a better woman, then lose five friends chasing her. Learn to lose as if your life depended on it. Learn that your life depends on it. Learn it like karate, like riding a bike. Learn it, master it. Lose money, lose time, lose your natural mind. Get left behind, then learn to leave others. Lose and lose again. Measure a father's coffin against a cousin's crashing T-cells. Kiss your sister through prison glass. Know why your woman's not answering her phone. Lose sleep. Lose religion. Lose your wallet in El Segundo. Open your window. Listen: the last slow notes of a Donny Hathaway song. A child crying. Listen: a drunk man is cussing out the moon. He sounds like your dead uncle, who, before he left, lost a leg to sugar. Shame. Learn what's given can be taken; what can be taken, will.
March 13, 2024 at 4:48 PM
uapoetrycenter.bsky.social
New on the blog: an interview with Robert Carr by guest contributor Jon Riccio.

poetry.arizona.edu/blog/intervi...
Writing is practice, and in this practice I have nothing to lose. I write every day. I read the work of poets I admire every day. I'm not afraid. If a draft poem frightens me, I assume I must be onto something important. Robert Carr, Poetry Center Interviews Portrait of Robert Carr alongside the cover of his book "the heavy of human clouds"
March 8, 2024 at 5:14 PM
uapoetrycenter.bsky.social
"Poetry is a space where we don’t have to normalize or 'make sense' or have the answer, where yes is also no and truth is also a question."
—Jennifer Elise Foerster (Mvskoke)

poetry.arizona.edu/blog/beyond-...
hands with birds in the background
March 6, 2024 at 5:27 PM
uapoetrycenter.bsky.social
Celebrate Women's History Month with this beautiful playlist from the Voca archives—featuring a selection of performances by women who read for the Poetry Center in the first three decades of the Reading Series.

voca.arizona.edu/playlists/ce...
March 1, 2024 at 9:34 PM
uapoetrycenter.bsky.social
Would you like to write for the Poetry Center's blog?

Pitches can range from enthusiasms (celebrations and appreciations of a collection), interviews, close-reads of poems, unpacking poetic techniques, writing prompts, curated reading lists, exploring Voca, or really ANYTHING related to poetry!
February 28, 2024 at 4:59 PM
uapoetrycenter.bsky.social
Next month we're offering an exciting class taught by Saretta Morgan!

You’ll walk away from this class with new approaches for finding pleasure alongside the texts you love (as well as the ones you don't).

Learn more and register: poetry.arizona.edu/calendar/sta...
Staying Outside: Strategies in Honor of "Difficult" Work with Saretta Morgan March 27, 5- 7 pm $100 What makes certain kinds of reading ‘difficult,’ and how can a curious sensibility help us approach reading with a new mindset?
February 27, 2024 at 5:51 PM