Annual Tucson Poetry Festival celebrates words, food

By Angela Orlando

Arizona Daily Wildcat

2 days of readings and workshops added to festival

Each spring, the UA blooms with flowers, relationships and a good ol' dose of poetry fever.

That's because every April, groups of renowned poets gather to celebrate words - and food - at the annual Tucson Poetry Festival.

Two days of poetry readings, competitions and workshops have been added to the Tucson Poetry Festival this year, extending it to a five-day affair. The poetry events, taking place at various sites around town, will start today and end Sunday. All workshops will take place at the Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St.

The annual festival revolves around a specific theme, with this year's readings exploring food, sustenance and nourishment.

"We would like to provide individuals, if only for a weekend, a place where they can be fed - literally and metaphorically - and inspired to create," said Jami Macarty, Tucson Poetry Festival director. "We are testing a premise: the care and feeding of poetry and poets - who is nourished, who is starved - is significant and determines the direction of contemporary poetry."

This year's featured poets include Ana Castillo, Russell Edson, Gary Mex Glazner, Donald Hall, Myung Mi Kim, Maxine Kumin, David Ray and Sonia Sanchez. University of Arizona's English lecturer Barbara Cully will act as the panel moderator.

Poets David Ray and his wife, Judy, live in Tucson and have attended the poetry festival for three years.

"I think the festival is very important," David Ray said. "It has a very distinct tradition."

David Ray's writings are simultaneously revolutionary and artistic. He has published 13 compilations of his poetry, one of which - "The Maharani's New Wall" - was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

"Currently I am involved in the border issues, capital punishment and other matters," he said. "I have been asked, 'How could you let politics intrude into your poetry?' and have replied, 'Please tell me how to keep it out.'"

David Ray will read his work tomorrow at 7 p.m. in the Modern Languages building auditorium. He will also conduct a small group workshop called "Licking the Grass" Sunday at 9:30 a.m.

From Santa Fe, N.M., poet Gary Mex Glazner organized the 2000 Slam America tour, which visited 32 cities and featured 100 poets.

Glazner will officiate the poetry slam as part of this year's events, which is the first competitive reading the festival has ever held. His duties include introducing poets, interacting with the audience and keeping competing poets within a designated time limit.

"Slam is like verbal jousting," he said, "but in no way is it actually violent. It can bruise a poet's ego though, if they get booed off the stage."

The winner of the slam will receive $100, and one writer will also receive a prize for best food poem.

Glazner said he appreciates the festival theme. He will read his works Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Ronstadt Transit Center, 215 E. Congress St. as well as lead a workshop titled "Walking the Streets in Search of Nourishment" Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

"I think it's a great combination - food and poetry," he said. "Both are sensuous and nutritious."

New Hampshire's Donald Hall will also travel to Tucson to participate in the festival. He is scheduled to read at the Rialto Theatre Sunday at 2 p.m. and conduct a small group workshop called "Poetry is to Be Eaten" Saturday at 10:30 a.m.

"Poetry is read not with the eyes, but with the stomach," he said. "Poetry is food. It tastes good and has nutritional value, without which we would die."

Hall said he looks forward to coming to Tucson to escape the 5 feet of snow currently heaped in his yard.

UA fine arts major Matthew Shenoda said he is most excited to hear poet Sonia Sanchez at the festival.

"(Sanchez) has been an incredible influence on my own writing," he said. "I've been reading her work for as long as I've been reading poetry."

Shenoda was recently appointed to the festival's advisory board. He will help organize the next festival as well as determine which poets will participate at that time.

Tim Bell, UA Poetry Center librarian, said he, too, looks forward to the annual festival.

"There's a diverse panel of readers reading in a user-friendly environment," he said. "This year's poets are all original, creative and productive. It's a big deal, and I'm very excited."

Poetry Timeline

Tomorrow:
Readings by Nora Dauenhauer & David Ray
7 p.m.
Modern Languages Auditorium
free

Admission for events April 6-8 is $7 per day or $15 for a weekend pass. All events are at the Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St. Tickets are available at Antigone Books, 411 N. Fourth Ave., ReaderÍs Oasis, 3400 E. Speedway Blvd. and Book Stop Used Books, 2504 N. Campbell Ave. All workshops are $5.

Friday:
Readings by Sonia Sanchez & Russell Edson
8 p.m.

Saturday:
Workshop with Ana Castillo
9-10 a.m.

Workshop with Donald Hall & Sonia Sanchez
10:30-11:30 a.m.

Open Mic Readings presented by The Missing Fez: A Quarterly Publication.
12-1 p.m.
free

Panel Discussion with moderator Barbara Cully
1:30-2:30 p.m.
free

Book Signing with festival poets
2:30-3 p.m.
free

Workshop with Gary Mex Glazner & Myung Mi Kim
3:30-4:30 p.m.

Readings by the winner of the statewide poetry contest, Myung Mi Kim & Maxine Kumin
8 p.m.

Sunday:
Workshop with David Ray
9:30-10:30 a.m.

Workshop with Russell Edson & Maxine Kumin
11 a.m.-12 p.m.

Open Microphone Readings presented by the Lamplight Reading Series
12:30-1:30 p.m.
free

Readings by the winner of the bilingual poetry contest, Ana Castillo & Donald Hall
2 p.m.