The University of Arizona Press
Date: Tuesday, August 19, 2025
Time: 5:30-7:00 p.m., MST
Where: Navajo Nation Main Library, Hwy 264 and Postal Loop Road, Window Rock, AZ
Amber McCrary author of Blue Corn Tongue: Poems in the Mouth of the Desert, will talk about her publishing journey at the Navajo Nation Main Library in Window Rock. She will talk about how she developed her own publishing company, created her own zines, and eventually published her poetry. The first twenty people to sign in will receive a free copy of Blue Corn Tongue! The event is free and open to the public and includes refreshments.
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.
