Date: Saturday, April 26, 2025
Time: 11 a.m. – 12 p.m., MST
Where: Hotel Valley Ho, 6850 E. Main St., Scottsdale, AZ
William L. Bird, author of In the Arms of Saguaros: Iconography of the Giant Cactus, will give an illustrated talk at the 2025 Arizona Tiki Oasis event held at Hotel Valley Ho. Arizona Tiki Oasis is a celebration of Tiki, Mid-Century design, and the restoration and preservation of American Pop Culture. In his illustrated talk, Bird will explore the history of the saguaro cactus and how it became an icon of the American west. Tickets for this event are $20 and are available here.
About the book:
In the Arms of the Saguaros shows how, from the botanical explorers of the nineteenth century to the tourism boosters in our own time, saguaros and their images have fulfilled attention-getting needs and expectations. Through text and lavish images, this work explores the saguaro’s growth into a western icon from the early days of the American railroad to the years bracketing World War II, when Sun Belt boosterism hit its zenith and proponents of tourism succeed in moving the saguaro to the center of the promotional frame.
This book explores how the growth of tourism brought the saguaro to ever-larger audiences through the proliferation of western-themed imagery on the American roadside. The history of the saguaro’s popular and highly imaginative range points to the current moment in which the saguaro touches us as a global icon in art, fashion, and entertainment.
Date: Thursday, February 27, 2025
Time: 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., MST
Where: Hayden Library, Arizona State University, 300 E Orange St., Tempe, AZ
Amber McCrary, author of Blue Corn Tongue: Poems in the Mouth of the Desert, and Kinsale Drake, author of The Sky Was Once a Dark Blanket, will talk about their books at Hayden Library, Arizona State University. The Labriola National American Indian Data Center brings these two indigenous authors to the ASU campus.
About the book:
In a voice that is jubilant, irreverent, sometimes scouring, sometimes heartfelt, and always unmistakably her own, Amber McCrary remaps the deserts of Arizona through the blue corn story of a young Diné woman figuring out love and life with an O’odham man. Reflecting experiences of Indigenous joy, pain, and family, these shapeshifting poems celebrate the love between two Native partners, a love that flourishes alongside the traumas they face in the present and the past. From her ethereal connection with her saguaro muse, Hosh, to the intricate tapestry of her relationships with Diné relatives and her awakening to the complex world of toxic masculinity, McCrary brings together DIY zine aesthetics, life forms of juniper and mountains, and the beauty of Diné Bizaad to tell of the enduring bonds between people and place.
Date: Friday, February 14, 2025
Time: 12:15 p.m., MST
Where: Riordan Mansion, 409 West Riordan Rd., Flagstaff, AZ
Celebrate Arizona Statehood Day with Lisa Schnebly Heidinger and Julie Morrison authors of Arizona Friend Trips: Stories from the Road! They will share stories from their new travel-poetry-photography book as part of the Riordan Mansion’s lunchtime lecture series. This event is free, but space is limited. Reserve your spot online or call 928-779-4395 for additional information and same day reservations.
Heidinger was a television, newspaper, and magazine reporter covering all areas of the state; and she’s authored twelve books focused on Arizona. Morrison is the author of Barbed: A Memoir as well as poems, short stories, and essays.
About the book:
Arizona Friend Trips is a celebration of friendship, discovery, and the enduring spirit of exploration. As Lisa and Julie share their favorite trips and formative experiences, readers are treated to an intimate glimpse into their lives, making this book a joyous and uplifting read for travelers and armchair explorers alike. Whether you’re planning your own Arizona adventure or simply yearning to wander from the comfort of home, Arizona Friend Trips promises to inspire, delight, and leave you longing for the open road.
Date: Thursday, March 6, 2025
Time: 7 p.m., PST
Where: Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA
Tim Z. Hernandez, author of They Call You Back: A Lost History, A Search, A Memoir, will read and sign books at Vroman’s Bookstore on March 6. He is an award-winning author, research scholar, and performer. Hernandez is an associate professor in the University of Texas at El Paso’s Bilingual Creative Writing program. He will be in conversation with Patty Rodriguez, radio personality and founder of Lil’ Libros, a bi-lingual children’s book publisher.
About the book:
In this riveting new work, Hernandez continues his search for the plane crash victims while also turning the lens on himself and his ancestral past, revealing the tumultuous and deeply intimate experiences that have fueled his investigations—a lifelong journey haunted by memory, addiction, generational trauma, and the spirit world.
They Call You Back is the true chronicle of one man’s obsession to restore dignity to an undignified chapter in America’s past, while at the same time making a case for why we must heal our personal wounds if we are ever to heal our political ones.
Date: Saturday, March 8, 2025
Time: 7:30 p.m., PST
Where: Verbatim Books, 3793 30th St., San Diego, CA
Tim Z. Hernandez, author of They Call You Back: A Lost History, A Search, A Memoir, will read and sign books at Verbatim Books on March 8. Hernandez is an award-winning author, research scholar, and performer. He is an associate professor in the University of Texas at El Paso’s Bilingual Creative Writing program. Special guests include families of Los Gatos airplane crash. Local folk musician Joel Rafael will play a few songs, and Alicia Coronado will also read from her latest work.
About the book:
In this riveting new work, Hernandez continues his search for the plane crash victims while also turning the lens on himself and his ancestral past, revealing the tumultuous and deeply intimate experiences that have fueled his investigations—a lifelong journey haunted by memory, addiction, generational trauma, and the spirit world.
They Call You Back is the true chronicle of one man’s obsession to restore dignity to an undignified chapter in America’s past, while at the same time making a case for why we must heal our personal wounds if we are ever to heal our political ones.
Date: Tuesday, April 15, 2025
Time: 6 p.m., MST
Where: Tumamoc Hill Boathouse (bottom of the hill), 1675 W. Anklam Rd., Tucson
Linda M. Gregonis and Victoria Evans, authors of The Hohokam and Their World, will talk with Tucson archaeologist Gayle Hartmann as part of the Tuesday Tumamoc Author Series. They will speak on “Hohokam Art Forms and the Sonoran Desert.” Tumamoc Hill is a rich Hohokam archaeology site. Learn more about Hohokam through the material that they left behind in the Sonoran Desert—pottery, shell ornaments, carved stone, and rock imagery? How did the Hohokam convey ideas about water, the Sonoran Desert, the ocean, travel, ancestors, and the cosmos?
This event is free and open to the public, and it is co-sponsored by the Desert Laboratory at Tumamoc Hill and the Southwest Center at the University of Arizona. Please register here.
About the book:
Gregonis and Evans discuss how artists drew inspiration from their Sonoran Desert homeland and were also influenced by the cultures of western Mexico, the hunter-gatherers of the western desert, the Mogollon to the east, and the Pueblo cultures of the northern Southwest. Unlike traditional archaeological texts, this book takes a holistic approach by examining a diverse range of artistic expressions used by the Hohokam. From intricately crafted pottery to mesmerizing carvings in rock, each medium offers a unique glimpse into the Hohokam’s relationship with their environment and the wider world.
Date: Tuesday, March 11, 2025
Time: 6 p.m., MST
Where: Tumamoc Hill Boathouse (bottom of the hill), 1675 W. Anklam Rd., Tucson
Hydrologist Julia Fonseca interviews Stephen Strom, author of Forging a Sustainable Southwest: The Power of Collaborative Conservation, as part of the Tuesday Tumamoc Author Series. They will speak on “Ranchers + Environmentalists = Happiness in the Desert.” Strom reveals how diverse groups of people came together for the good of the Sonoran Desert in Pima County, preserving open spaces that you can see from Tumamoc Hill! Strom, also a professional photographer, will show slides of large landscapes preserved through collaboration in the southwest. We are faced today with an existential environmental and moral challenge: can we find common purpose in protecting and cherishing these masterpieces and in restoring a sense of shared responsibility for stewarding our endowment?
This event is free and open to the public, and it is co-sponsored by the Desert Laboratory at Tumamoc Hill and the Southwest Center at the University of Arizona. Please register here.
About the book:
Forging a Sustainable Southwest introduces readers to four conservation efforts that provide insight into how diverse groups of citizens have worked collaboratively to develop visions for land use that harmonized sometimes conflicting ecological, economic, cultural, and community needs. Through the voices of more than seventy individuals involved in these efforts, we learn how they’ve developed plans for protecting, restoring, and stewarding lands sustainably; the management and funding tools they’ve used; and their perceptions of the challenges that remain and how to meet them.
When: March 15-16, 2025
Where: The University of Arizona Campus, Tucson, AZ
Mark your calendars for the Tucson Festival of Books, a community-wide celebration of literature. As always, the festival is free to attend. Keep an eye on this page for more information about University of Arizona Press authors who will be participating in the festival, or sign up for our newsletter to get updates
In the meantime, why not check out some highlights from last year’s festival? See photos of all the amazing authors and community members who stopped by our tent.
We look forward to seeing you at this year’s festival!
Date: Tuesday, February 11, 2025
Time: 6 p.m., MST
Where: Tumamoc Hill Boathouse (bottom of the hill), 1675 W. Anklam Rd., Tucson
Tumamoc Desert Laboratory Director Elise Gornish interviews Tucson author Michelle Téllez about a women-centered social movement in the borderlands. They will speak on “Women leading the fight for rights to land, health, and education” for the Tuesday Tumamoc Author Series. The discussion features Téllez’s book, Border Women and the Community of Maclovio Rojas, and how women work together to address issues of health, education, housing, nutrition, and security in border communities. This is a book about hope, struggle and possibility on the Mexican side of the U.S.-Mexico Border.
This event is free and open to the public, and it is co-sponsored by the Desert Laboratory at Tumamoc Hill and the Southwest Center at the University of Arizona. Please register here.
About the book:
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 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.
Date: Tuesday, January 14, 2025
Time: 6 p.m., MST
Where: Tumamoc Hill Boathouse (bottom of the hill), 1675 W. Anklam Rd., Tucson
Melani Martinez, Tucson author of The Molino: A Memoir, will present her book as part of the Tuesday Tumamoc Author Series. She will speak on “The Tucson Family Behind El Rapido.” Martinez’s new book takes place in the sunset shadow of Tumamoc Hill, and reckons with one family’s loss of home, food, and faith. Weaving together history, culture, and Mexican food traditions, Martinez shares the story of her family’s life and work in the downtown eatery, El Rapido. Martinez’s work documents the work required to prepare food for others, and explores the heartbreaking aftermath of gentrification that forced the multigenerational family business to close its doors.
This event is free and open to the public, and it is co-sponsored by the Desert Laboratory at Tumamoc Hill and the Southwest Center at the University of Arizona. Please register here.
About the book:
Opened by Martinez’s great-grandfather, Aurelio Perez, in 1933, El Rapido served tamales and burritos to residents and visitors to Tucson’s historic Barrio Presidio for nearly seventy years. For the family, the factory that bound them together was known for the giant corn grinder churning behind the scenes—the molino. The book also tells of Martinez’s personal story—that of a young Tucsonense coming of age in the 1980s and ’90s. As a young woman she rejects the work in her father’s popular kitchen, but when the business closes, her world shifts and the family disbands. When she finds her way back home, the tortillería’s iconic mural provides a gateway into history and ruin, ancestry and sacrifice, industrial myth and artistic incarnation—revealing a sacred presence still alive in Tucson.
A must-read for foodies, history lovers, and anyone searching for spiritual truth in the desert, this is a story of belonging and transformation in the borderlands.
The University of Arizona Press
