The University of Arizona Press
February 19, 2026
Bibliophiles rejoice: the 2026 Tucson Festival of Books is right around the corner! March 14-15, find tent #247 on the University of Arizona campus where we’ll be selling books, hosting author signings, and connecting with the incredible Tucson community.
With authors from many genres presenting on panels and signing books at our tent this year, there will be something for everyone. All books will be 25% off during the festival, and we will once again have our ever-popular $5 bookshelf.
Take a look at the schedule below to find out where and when you can meet University of Arizona Press authors, or view the complete 2026 Tucson Festival of Books Presenting Author schedule. We look forward to seeing you there!
Book Signing Schedule
Saturday, March 14
10:00-10:50 AM: Danielle P. Williams, author of Chamorrita Song
11:00-11:50 AM: Dorothy Denetclaw & Matt Fitzsimons, author of The Sons of Gunshooter
12:00-12:50 PM: Ann Hedlund, author of Mac Schweitzer
1:00-1:50 PM: John Schaefer, author of A Chance to Make a Difference
3:00-3:50 PM: Tom Zoellner, author of Rim to River
Sunday, March 15
10:00-10:50 AM: Logan Phillips & Mele Martinez, authors of Reckon and The Molino
11:00-11:50 AM: Joe Watkins, author of Indigenizing Japan
12:00-12:50 PM: Gabriella Soto, author of Border Afterlives
1:00-1:50 PM: David Burckhalter & Jennifer Jenkins, authors of Baskets from the Seri Coast and Celluloid Pueblo
2:00-2:50 PM: Laura Da’ & Laura Tohe, authors of Severalty and Tséyi’ / Deep in the Rock
Panel Schedule – Saturday, March 14
10:00 AM
| Title: | Lead with Curiosity, Act with Purpose |
| Location: | Integrated Learning Center Room 150 |
| Date/Time: | Saturday, March 14, 10:00 am to 10:55 am |
| Panelists: | David Gelles, David Litt, John Schaefer |
| Moderator: | Stefanie Teller |
| Genres: | Memoir / Essays / Creative Nonfiction |
| Signing Area: | Sales & Signing Area – Integrated Learning Center (following presentation) |
| Description: | What does it mean to lead with curiosity and act with purpose? Join David Gelles, David Litt and John P. Schaefer for a conversation that spans bold adventures, unexpected leadership and public service. Expect insights, humor, and inspiring reminders of how each of us can chart a meaningful path. |
1:00 PM
| Title: | Sing, Slam, Shout! |
| Location: | Student Union Kiva |
| Date/Time: | Sat, Mar 14, 1:00 pm – 1:55 pm |
| Panelists: | Logan Phillips, Sophia Terazawa, Danielle Williams |
| Moderator: | Cameron Quan |
| Genres: | Poetry |
| Signing Area: | Sales & Signing Area – UA Campus Store Main Floor |
| Description: | From the musical incantation of lyric to the political rhythms of slam, what role does performance play in bringing poems to life? Join three electrifying poets who expertly translate their words from the printed page to the human voice and hear them discuss their approaches to enacting language. |
| Title: | Untold Stories |
| Location: | UA Library/Special Collections |
| Date/Time: | Sat, Mar 14, 1:00 pm – 1:55 pm |
| Panelists: | Mark Archuleta, Dorothy Denetclaw, Matt Fitzsimons |
| Moderator: | Jennifer Jenkins |
| Genres: | History / Biography |
| Signing Area: | Sales & Signing Area – Integrated Learning Center |
| Description: | Some of the early twentieth century West’s most interesting crime stories are the ones documented in history wrong. Authors Dorothy Denetclaw, Matt Fitzsimons, and Mark Archuleta correct the record and reveal the untold stories. |
2:30 PM
| Title: | Workshop: Family and Food |
| Location: | Integrated Learning Center Room 125AB |
| Date/Time: | Sat, Mar 14, 2:30 pm – 3:25 pm |
| Panelists: | Melani Martinez |
| Genres: | Memoir / Essays / Creative Nonfiction |
| Description: | Local writer Melani Martinez, author of “The Molino,” will lead a workshop on telling family food stories. She’ll explore why capturing these moment matter, why they are important to document, and how to engage with relatives. |
| Title: | Speak of the Body |
| Location: | Student Union Kiva |
| Date/Time: | Sat, Mar 14, 2:30 pm – 3:25 pm |
| Panelists: | Laura Da’, Richard Siken |
| Moderator: | Dillon Clark |
| Genres: | Poetry |
| Description: | How can we talk about trauma? Laura Da’ and Richard Siken examine the aftermath of illness, delving into devastation, healing, loss, and limitation. Through deeply personal narratives and precise writing about the body, these poets explore how we might begin to talk about our altered lives. |
4:00 PM
| Title: | Art and the Southwest |
| Location: | UA Library/Special Collections |
| Date/Time: | Saturday, March 14, 4:00 pm – 4:55 pm |
| Panelists: | Molly Hashimoto, Ann Hedlund |
| Moderator: | Christine Brindza |
| Genres: | Fine Arts / Photography |
| Signing Area: | Sales & Signing Area – Integrated Learning Center (following presentation) |
| Description: | Artists offer a special bridge to understanding the Southwest. Artist Molly Hashimoto and biographer Ann Hedlund, author of Mac Schweitzer, discuss why works of art and books about art and artists are critical to our understandings of this special place. |
Panel Schedule – Sunday, March 15
10:00 AM
| Title: | Memory & Intimacy |
| Location: | Student Union Kiva |
| Date/Time: | Sun, Mar 15, 10:00 am – 10:55 am |
| Panelists: | Robin Becker, Laura Da’, Sophia Terazawa |
| Moderators: | Farid Matuk |
| Genres: | Poetry |
| Signing Area: | Sales & Signing Area – UA Campus Store Main Floor |
| Description: | Do our memories describe the past or reinvent it? Three poets allow us intimate access to their histories, traumas, and triumphs, demonstrating how poetry can be a vehicle to confront legacies of violence, while embracing radical methods of survival and resistance. |
11:30 AM
| Title: | Workshop: Hybrid Writing in Memoirs |
| Location: | Integrated Learning Center Room 119 |
| Date/Time: | Sunday, March 15, 11:30 am – 12:25 pm |
| Instructor: | Logan Phillips |
| Moderators: | Matthew Landon |
| Genres: | multi-genre |
| Signing Area: | N/A |
| Description: | In this workshop, poet and author Logan Phillips will share strategies and exercises for inviting hybridity into memoir writing, transgressing genre to draw on the strengths of poetry, essay, screenplay, even photography and collage. |
| Title: | Poetry vs. the Patriarchy |
| Location: | Student Union Kiva |
| Date/Time: | Sun, Mar 15, 11:30 am – 12:25 pm |
| Panelists: | Jami Macarty, Danielle Williams, Felicia Zamora |
| Moderators: | Estella Gonzalez |
| Genres: | Poetry |
| Signing Area: | Sales & Signing Area – UA Campus Store Main Floor |
| Description: | A viral headline recently asked, “Did Women Ruin the Workplace?” In yet another era of sexism and misogyny, what kind of intervention can poetry make? Hear from three visionary poets who confront everyday injustices and cultural crises in their writing to affirm a more equal world. |
1:00 PM
| Title: | Imagined Borders |
| Location: | Student Union Kiva |
| Date/Time: | Sun, Mar 15, 1:00 pm – 1:55 pm |
| Panelists: | Logan Phillips, Sophia Terazawa, Danielle Williams |
| Moderators: | Cameron Quan |
| Genres: | Poetry |
| Signing Area: | Sales & Signing Area – UA Campus Store Main Floor |
| Description: | Poetry allows us to ask difficult questions like: Why do we have borders? What are borders, where do they come from, and how do they shape our language? Three poets investigate these questions, challenging the borders of place, identity, genre, history, and language. |
2:30 PM
| Title: | Seeing the Southwest |
| Location: | UA Library/Special Collections |
| Date/Time: | Sunday, March 15, 2:30 pm – 3:25 pm |
| Panelists: | Craig Childs, E.A. Hanks, Ann Hedlund, Dora Rodriguez |
| Moderators: | Gregory McNamee |
| Genres: | Southwest Books of the Year |
| Signing Area: | Sales & Signing Area – Integrated Learning Center (following presentation) |
| Description: | In this session, the authors of four Southwest Books of the Year will discuss the role that landscape and culture played in the development of their work. |
4:00 PM
| Title: | Viva Tucson: Tucsonense History in Focus |
| Location: | Nuestras Raíces Stage |
| Date/Time: | Sun, Mar 15, 4:00 pm – 4:55 pm |
| Panelists: | Melani Martinez, Lydia Otero |
| Moderators: | Alisha Vasquez |
| Signing Area: | Pima County Public Library/Nuestras Raíces/Craft Tent & Signing Area |
| Description: | ¡Viva Tucson! In this conversation with local legends and multigenerational Tucsonans Lydia Otero and Melani Martinez, we will learn about the history of two iconic Tucson locations: La Casa Cordova, a home built in the 1840s, and El Molino: one of Tucson’s first tamal and tortilla factories. |
| Title: | Meet the New Poet Laureates |
| Location: | Student Union Kiva |
| Date/Time: | Sun, Mar 15, 4:00 pm – 4:55 pm |
| Panelists: | Logan Phillips, Laura Tohe |
| Moderators: | Tyler Meier |
| Signing Area: | Sales & Signing Area – UA Campus Store Main Floor |
| Description: | Join us as Mayor Regina Romero introduces the new Tucson Poet Laureate and the new Arizona Poet Laureate for their inaugural readings. Both laureates will serve as official ambassadors for poetry, building a public life for poetry in Southern Arizona and throughout the state. |
For the full festival schedule, visit the Tucson Festival of Books Presenting Author webpage.
