Natural Landmarks of Arizona celebrates the vast geological past of Arizona’s natural monuments through the eyes of a celebrated storyteller who has called Arizona home for most of his life. The Southwest Center, Why I Love Where I Live, and the University of Arizona Press invite you to a book signing and celebration with David Yetman.
When: Tuesday, November 9, 2021, 5:30 p.m.
Where: MSA Annex, 267 South Avenida del Convento, Tucson
Register here.
Book sale and signing at Why I Love Where I Live, and book discussion at the MSA Annex event grounds. Event is free.
In this new book, Yetman shows us how Arizona’s most iconic landmarks were formed millions of years ago and sheds light on the more recent histories of these landmarks as well. These peaks and ranges offer striking intrusions into the Arizona horizon, giving our southwestern state some of the most memorable views, hikes, climbs, and bike rides anywhere in the world. They orient us, they locate us, and they are steadfast through generations.
Whether you have climbed these peaks many times, enjoy seeing them from your car window, or simply want to learn more about southwestern geology and history, reading Natural Landmarks of Arizona is a fascinating way to learn about the ancient and recent history of beloved places such as Cathedral Rock, Granite Dells, Kitt Peak, and many others.
With Yetman as your guide, you can tuck this book into your glove box and hit the road with profound new knowledge about the towering natural monuments that define our beautiful Arizona landscapes.
Presented by EXO Roast Co. and the University of Arizona Press, join us to celebrate Michelle Téllez’s new book, Border Women and the Community of Maclovio Rojas: Autonomy in the Spaces of Neoliberal Neglect.
When: Wednesday, October 6, 5:30 p.m., at EXO Roast Co., 403 N. 6th Avenue
Free event. Please register here. Books will be available for sale. EXO Roast Co. currently requires all customers and staff wear masks. The number of people in the café may be limited due to social distancing guidelines.
Near Tijuana, Baja California, the autonomous community of Maclovio Rojas demonstrates what is possible for urban place-based political movements. More than a community, Maclovio Rojas is a women-led social movement that works for economic and political autonomy to address issues of health, education, housing, nutrition, and security.
Border Women and the Community of Maclovio Rojas tells the story of the community’s struggle to carve out space for survival and thriving in the shadows of the U.S.-Mexico geopolitical border. This ethnography by Michelle Téllez demonstrates the state’s neglect in providing social services and local infrastructure. This neglect exacerbates the structural violence endemic to the border region—a continuation of colonial systems of power on the urban, rural, and racialized poor. Téllez shows that in creating the community of Maclovio Rojas, residents have challenged prescriptive notions of nation and belonging. Through women’s active participation and leadership, a women’s political subjectivity has emerged—Maclovianas. These border women both contest and invoke their citizenship as they struggle to have their land rights recognized, and they transform traditional political roles into that of agency and responsibility.
November 5, 2020 at 5:00 P.M. MST
We are excited that the Amerind Foundation is hosting an online happy hour book club for University of Arizona Press author, Sara Sue Hoklotubbe!
Join author Sara Sue Hoklotubbe in a discussion of her most recent Sadie Walela mystery, Betrayal at the Buffalo Ranch. Margaret Coel, New York Times best-selling author, describes the book as “a compelling, tautly written, and hard-to-put-down mystery. Betrayal at the Buffalo Ranch takes you into the lives and cultures of modern-day Cherokees, all the while keeping you guessing and turning the pages until the very end.”
Join your friends and meet new ones in a Zoom book discussion group. Sara Sue will talk about her writing career and the Sadie Walela mystery series. Participants will then join smaller groups for a more intimate conversation about the book. Connect with new and old friends and learn more about contemporary Cherokee life and the land.
Please enjoy the book before joining in the discussion. We don’t want you to be surprised by any spoilers! You can purchase Sara Sue’s book through the University of Arizona Press or your local independent bookstore.
Sara Sue Hoklotubbe, Cherokee tribal citizen, is author of the award-winning Sadie Walela Mystery Series set within the Cherokee Nation in northeastern Oklahoma where she grew up. She is winner of the WILLA Literary Award, the New Mexico-Arizona Mystery Book of the Year Award, and the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers Mystery of the Year Award.
Registration for this online program is free, but space is limited. Register here.
In honor Native American Heritage Month, poet Santee Frazier will read at the SUNY Canton Living Writers Series on Wednesday, November 20, 6:30 pm in the Richard W. Miller Campus Center’s Kingston Theater. The event is free and open to the public.
Frazier, a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, will read from his new poetry collection, Aurum, published by the University of Arizona Press. Following the reading, North Country Public Radio’s Station Manager Mitch Teich will lead a question-and-answer session with the audience.
Frazier is director of the Institute of American Indian Arts Low Residency MFA Program in Santa Fe. For more information, visit www.canton.edu/writers.
November 16, 2019
Aurum, published by the University of Arizona Press in September as part of its award-winning Sun Tracks series, is Frazier’s long-anticipated second book. His first book, Dark Thirty, also published by the University of Arizona Press in 2009, received great praise for its compelling style and difficult themes like poverty, alcoholism, cruelty, and homelessness. Frazier, a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, once again explores these similar themes in his new collection:
Aurum does not attempt to provide answers or solutions. Instead, it splits the belly of North America and lays it bare into powerful words and unconventional structures. Brutally honest and incredibly fine tuned, this collection digs up “the grit where teeth once rooted” to show the objectification of Native peoples and cultures for the grotesque erasure it really is.
With images that taunt, disturb, and fascinate, Aurum captures the vibrantly original language in Santee Frazier’s first collection, Dark Thirty, while taking on a completely new voice and rhythm. Each poem is vivid and memorable, beckoning to be read again and again as the words lend an enhanced experience each time. Frazier has crafted a wrought-iron collection of poetry that never shies away from a truth that America often attempts to ignore.
At the November 16 reading Frazier will be reading with two other poets, Joan Naviyuk, who is Inupiaq from Alaska, and Jake Skeets, who is Diné from New Mexico.
Thursday, March 5, 2020—
7:00 p.m. at the Center for English as a Second Language, Room 103.
Free and open to all! A reception will follow the program.
Educated, restless, inquisitive, plucky, intrepid. These words describe women whose influence and impact in the American Southwest in the early 20th century have largely been left out of the pages of history. Natalie Curtis, Carol Stanley, Mary Cabot Wheelright, and Louisa Wade Wetherill, to name a few. In honor of Women’s History Month, author and historian Lesley Poling-Kempes will show historic photos and discuss the research journey that became her celebrated book, Ladies of the Canyons: A League of Extraordinary Women & their Adventures in the American Southwest.
This is a presentation in the Arnold and Doris Roland Distinguished Speaker Series, made possible by the generosity of Dr. and Mrs. Roland. The reception is underwritten by the ASM Director’s Council.
The Center for English as a Second Language (CESL) is one building east of Arizona State Museum north, at 1100 E. James E. Rogers Way.
October 20, 2019 —
Award-winning author Daniel Chacon will read, discuss, and sign his new book, Kafka in a Skirt: Stories from the Wall, on Sunday, October 20, at 3 p.m., at Literarity Book Shop, 5411 N. Mesa, El Paso, Texas. This short-story collection is the sixth book of fiction by Chacón, chair of the UTEP – The University of Texas at El Paso creative writing department.
In Kafka in a Skirt, Chacón subverts expectation and bends the rules of reality to create stories that are intriguing, hilarious, and deeply rooted in Chicano culture. These stories explore the concept of a wall that reaches beyond our immediate thoughts of a towering physical structure. While Chacón aims to address the partition along the U.S.-Mexico border, he also uses these stories to work through the intangible walls that divide communities and individuals—particularly those who straddle multiple cultures in their daily lives.
“Hold on tight! Author Daniel Chacón’s KAFKA IN A SKIRT takes you on a witty rollercoaster ride through Chicano life and beyond the wall.”
—Alfredo Corchado
“No Chicano/Latino literature collection is complete without the works of Daniel Chacón, who, with his unique humor and insight, invites us to see the world in a fresh and surprising way.”
—Reyna Grande
“Daniel Chacón’s collection of stories challenges convention and resolution, offering us thought-provoking insights into our current (and oftentimes surreal) political climate. KAFKA IN A SKIRT breaks new ground in the art of social commentary that highlights the strangeness of our human condition and the follies of the skewed perceptions we maintain of ourselves, our neighbors, and the troubled world we live in.”
—Rigoberto González
October 12 and 13, 2019—
Join James “Big Jim” Griffith at Tucson Meet Yourself to get your copy of his latest book, Saints, Statues, and Stories, signed! Jim will be at the Tucson Meet Yourself store booth (at Stone and Pennington) with copies of the book for sale and a good Sonoran story or two. Visit with him on Saturday, October 12 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and on Sunday, October 13 from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
In Saints, Statues, and Stories, Griffith shares stories of nearly sixty years of traveling through Sonora, and offers the living traditions of Catholic communities. Griffith uncovers the meanings behind the devotional uses of religious art from a variety of perspectives— from artist to audience, preservationist to community member. The religious artworks transcend art objects, Griffith believes, and function as ways of communicating between this world and the next. Setting the stage with a brief geography lesson, Griffith introduces us to roadside shrines, artists, fiestas, saints, and miracles. Full-color images add to the pleasure of this delightful journey through the churches and towns of Sonora.
James S. Griffith is the former director of the Southwest Folklore Center at the University of Arizona, where he earned his PhD in cultural anthropology and art history.
Tucson Meet Yourself is located in the Jácome Plaza at 60 W Pennington St, Tucson, AZ 85701.
October 26, 2019 at 7:00p.m.—
Join us at the Steinfeld Warehouse for a poetry reading featuring UA Press poet and Sun Tracks editor, Ofelia Zepeda, as well as Maryrose Larkin. General admission is $5 at the door, or $3 for students. The University of Arizona Press will be selling Ofelia Zepeda‘s poetry collections at the event, and light refreshments will be provided. This reading is held by POG, a nonprofit organization that focuses on bringing innovative poetry and poetics projects to Tucson. Since 1996, POG has brought at least ten visiting poets and artists to Tucson each year.
Ofelia Zepeda is a member of the Tohono O’odham Nation, and she grew up in Stanfield, Arizona. She earned a BA, an MA, and a PhD in linguistics from the University of Arizona. Zepeda’s poetry touches on Linguistics, O’odham traditions, the natural world, and the experience of contemporary O’odham life. Her work is influenced by traditional Papago themes and songs. Zepeda was honored with a MacArthur Fellowship for her contributions as a poet, linguist, and cultural preservationist. She received a grant from the Endangered Language Fund for her work on the Tohono O’odham Dictionary Project. Zepeda has been a professor of linguistics and director of the American Indian Studies Program at the University of Arizona, as well as director of the American Indian Language Development Institute. The following UA Press titles written by Ofelia Zepeda will be available at the reading: When It Rains, Where Clouds Are Formed, and Ocean Power.
Maryrose Larkin lives in Tucson, AZ. She is the author of Inverse, Whimsy Daybook 2007, The Book of Ocean, DARC, The Name of This Intersection is Frost, Marrowing, and The Identification of Ghosts. Her work has been included in the anthologies I’ll Down My Book: Conceptual Writing by Women and The Arcadia Project: North American Postmodern Pastoral. Maryrose was a founding member of Spare Room, a Portland-based writing collective, and is co-editor of FLASH+CARD, a chapbook and ephemera poetry press. Maryrose received her MFA from Bard College’s Milton Avery Graduate School of Art.
The Steinfeld Warehouse is located at 101 W 6th Ave, Tucson, AZ 85701.
The University of Arizona Press
