Poetry Centered

University of Arizona Poetry Center
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Poetry Centered

Poetry Centered features curated selections from Voca, the University of Arizona Poetry Center’s online audiovisual archive of more than 1,000 recordings of poets reading their work during visits to the Center between 1963 and today. In each episode, a guest poet introduces three poems from Voca, sharing their insights about the remarkable performances recorded in our archive. Each episode concludes with the guest poet reading a poem of their own.

  1. Kwame Dawes: Cleansing as Fire

    JAN 29

    Kwame Dawes: Cleansing as Fire

    Kwame Dawes introduces poems that interrogate loss and violence, transforming them in the flame of irony, elegy, and empathy. He discusses Lucille Clifton distilling “pure moments of tremendous poetry” (“lu 1958”), Michael S. Harper offering a haunting conclusion that serves as both memorial and gift (“We Assume: On the Death of our Son, Reuben Masai Harper”), and Terrance Hayes treading the line where outrage meets compassion (“Carolina Lullaby,” “A Poem That Does Nothing,” “The Poet Ai as Dylann Roof”). Dawes closes with an unpublished poem, “The House of Two Women,” which engages with the turbulent present of American life. Find the full recordings of Clifton, Harper, and Hayes reading from the Poetry Center on Voca: Lucille Clifton (November 1, 2007) Michael S. Harper (April 4, 1973) Terrance Hayes (February 4, 2016) Full transcripts of every episode are available on Buzzsprout. Look for the transcript tab under each episode. Voca is now fully captioned, with interactive transcripts and captions available for all readings! Read more about the project here, or try out this new feature by visiting Voca.

    42 min
  2. Mackenzie Polonyi: Mycorrhizal Love

    JAN 15

    Mackenzie Polonyi: Mycorrhizal Love

    Mackenzie Polonyi selects poems that engender bell hooks’ idea of love as a verb—a mycorrhizal, persistent, and complicated act linking us to past and present, near and far. She discusses Lucille Clifton on the boundlessness of light (“i was born with twelve fingers”), Fady Joudah’s adaptation of Hussein Barghouthi on the music of what it means to be human (“I Dreamed You”), and Victoria Chang on questions for the generations we cannot meet (“Once you had to stand behind...”). Polonyi closes with her own “Grand Daughter’s Grief Logic,” where grieving ruptures time. Find the full recordings of Clifton, Joudah, and Chang reading for the Poetry Center on Voca: Lucille Clifton (October 12, 1983) Fady Joudah (February 19, 2015) Victoria Chang (October 6, 2022) Full transcripts of every episode are available on Buzzsprout. Look for the transcript tab under each episode. Voca is now fully captioned, with interactive transcripts and captions available for all readings! Read more about the project here, or try out this new feature by visiting Voca.

    38 min
  3. Abigail Chabitnoy: The Field

    JAN 1

    Abigail Chabitnoy: The Field

    Abigail Chabitnoy curates poems that dwell in fields of searching, connecting, and being. She introduces Michael Wasson communing with those who are no longer breathing (“Aposiopesis [or, The Field between the Living & the Dead]”), Jean Valentine considering the moment and its boundaries (“To my soul”), and Saretta Morgan writing into love over many years (“Dearth-light”). To close, Chabitnoy reads her poem “Signs You Are Standing at the End,” which enters its own field of imagining across time. Find the full recordings of Wasson, Valentine, and Morgan reading for the Poetry Center on Voca: Michael Wasson (April 27, 2023) Jean Valentine (September 25, 2008) Saretta Morgan (March 28, 2024) Full transcripts of every episode are available on Buzzsprout. Look for the transcript tab under each episode. Voca is now fully captioned, with interactive transcripts and captions available for all readings! Read more about the project here, or try out this new feature by visiting Voca.

    25 min
  4. Diego Báez: Three Gabriels

    12/11/2024

    Diego Báez: Three Gabriels

    Diego Báez introduces us to three Gabriels connected by themes of reclamation and new beginnings. He shares Gabriel Dozal approaching the US-Mexico border with humor (“You Look at Crossers, You Look Just Like Them”), Gabriel Palacios unpacking narratives of inheritance and race (“The Friar’s Daughter’s Mother”), and Jimmy Santiago Baca experiencing the birth of his son, Gabriel (“Child of the Sun—Gabriel’s Birth (Sun Prayer)”). Báez closes by reading “Neuropathy with Lamb,” which reflects on his role as a caregiver for his mother. Find the full recordings of Dozal, Palacios, and Baca reading for the Poetry Center on Voca: Gabriel Dozal (May 2, 2024) Gabriel Palacios (May 2, 2024) Jimmy Santiago Baca (September 14, 1988) Full transcripts of every episode are available on Buzzsprout. Look for the transcript tab under each episode. Voca is now fully captioned, with interactive transcripts and captions available for all readings! Read more about the project here, or try out this new feature by visiting Voca.

    35 min
  5. Valerie Hsiung: Breath Mover

    11/27/2024

    Valerie Hsiung: Breath Mover

    Valerie Hsiung selects poems that disorient as they open us to the vital, visceral present. She introduces Roberto Tejada and the poem as a breaking fever (“Kill Time Objective”), Jennifer Elise Foerster as a channel for a multiplicity of lost voices (“Hokkolen: I become the canyon, its dreaming eye”), and Mei-mei Berssenbrugge narrowing the senses to expand what remains (“Slow Down Now”). To close, Hsiung reads from her sequence “a-begging,” her voice responding to the room where she’s recording. Watch the full recordings of Tejada, Foerster, and Berssenbrugge reading for the Poetry Center on Voca: Roberto Tejada (January 12, 2023) Jennifer Elise Foerster (April 27, 2023) Mei-mei Berssenbrugge (March 13, 2010) Full transcripts of every episode are available on Buzzsprout. Look for the transcript tab under each episode. Voca is now fully captioned, with interactive transcripts and captions available for all readings! Read more about the project here, or try out this new feature by visiting Voca.

    32 min
  6. Geffrey Davis: The Drive to Connect

    11/13/2024

    Geffrey Davis: The Drive to Connect

    Geffrey Davis selects recordings that reveal the bold, risky, and relentless work of attention and connection that poetry undertakes. He shares Lisel Mueller pushing against the limits of human understanding (“What the Dog Perhaps Hears”), Carl Phillips exploring change as more than calamity (“Continuous Until We Stop”), and Ross Gay asserting that pain and grief live alongside gratitude (“Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude”). Davis closes by reading his poem “Inside the Charged Dark,” paying tribute to his mother as the model of inquiry in his life. Find the full recordings of Mueller, Phillips, and Gay reading from the Poetry Center on Voca: Lisel Mueller (October 28, 1981) Carl Phillips (November 1, 2012) Ross Gay (January 19, 2017) Full transcripts of every episode are available on Buzzsprout. Look for the transcript tab under each episode. Voca is now fully captioned, with interactive transcripts and captions available for all readings! Read more about the project here, or try out this new feature by visiting Voca.

    36 min
  7. Vickie Vértiz: Path to a Future

    08/07/2024

    Vickie Vértiz: Path to a Future

    Vickie Vértiz curates poems that chart a path to a collective future where we can survive crises, connect with others, and see life’s beauty. She introduces Khadijah Queen looking to words as weapons amidst grief (“bloodroot,” “Dear fear…”), Lehua M. Taitano moving through the luminous ocean of time (“Queer Check-Ins”), and Angel Dominguez breaking through the world’s isolation (“What Does the Future Sing to You in Dreams”). Vértiz closes with her poem “Disco,” a celebration of discovery and delight. Watch Suheir Hammad’s “Gaza Suite” from the 2009 Palestine Festival of Literature. Watch the full recordings of Queen, Taitano, and Dominguez reading for the Poetry Center on Voca: Khadijah Queen (February 18, 2016) Lehua M. Taitano (July 25, 2019) Angel Dominguez (August 3, 2023) You can also enjoy a recording of Vickie Vértiz reading for the Poetry Center in 2016. Read about the Voca captioning project here. Every recording on Voca now has transcripts and captions—dive in and enjoy! Full transcripts of every episode are available on Buzzsprout. Look for the transcript tab under each episode. Voca is now fully captioned, with interactive transcripts and captions available for all readings! Read more about the project here, or try out this new feature by visiting Voca.

    24 min
  8. Eugenia Leigh: Proclaim a Rising

    07/24/2024

    Eugenia Leigh: Proclaim a Rising

    Eugenia Leigh introduces poems that speak from a particular moment into our own time, offering possibility amidst struggle. She shares John Murillo’s engagement with resistance and reality (“Enter the Dragon”), Monica Sok’s truth-telling about genocide (“Tuol Sleng”), and Angel Dominguez’s joyful protest against capitalism. Leigh closes with her poem “This City,” which ends with renewal. Watch the full recordings of Murillo, Sok, and Dominguez reading for the Poetry Center on Voca: John Murillo (April 22, 2021) Monica Sok (February 13, 2020) Angel Dominguez (August 3, 2023) Full transcripts of every episode are available on Buzzsprout. Look for the transcript tab under each episode. Voca is now fully captioned, with interactive transcripts and captions available for all readings! Read more about the project here, or try out this new feature by visiting Voca.

    31 min
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About

Poetry Centered features curated selections from Voca, the University of Arizona Poetry Center’s online audiovisual archive of more than 1,000 recordings of poets reading their work during visits to the Center between 1963 and today. In each episode, a guest poet introduces three poems from Voca, sharing their insights about the remarkable performances recorded in our archive. Each episode concludes with the guest poet reading a poem of their own.

Information

  • Creator
    University of Arizona Poetry Center
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2025
  • Episodes
    52
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Poetry Centered
  • Show Website
    Poetry Centered

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