The University of Arizona Press
Date: Saturday, May 16, 2026
Time: 9:45-11:00 a.m., EDT
Place: Glen Helen Nature Preserve, 405 Corry Street, Yellow Springs, OH
Festival Tickets: $65 to $85, register here
Manuel Iris, author of The Whole Earth Is a Garden of Monsters / Toda la tierra es un jardín de monstruos will teach a poetry workshop at the Sun and Moon Poetry Festival on May 16. In “Navigating Memory to Find a Possible Definition of Love” workshop, attendees will navigate their own memories and use that journey as a source for creating a poem. Iris will give an introduction to memory and writing and then give a writing prompt. Attendees who feel comfortable with it will share their writing with the rest of the cohort. Manuel Iris is a Mexican-born American poet who has served as poet laureate of Cincinnati, Ohio, writer-in-residence at the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library, and writer-in-residence at Thomas More University.
The Poetry Festival is May 15-17, and includes workshops, readings, haiku hike, and sound bath. The Festival is sponsored by the Ohio Poetry Association (OPA). Registration is $65 for OPA Associate, Senior, & Student Members; $85 for non-members. Register here.
About the book:
This award-winning bilingual collection intertwines the lives of a Renaissance painter and a modern migrant worker, offering a fresh perspective on art and migration.
In this highly imaginative work, the lives of the northern Renaissance painter Hieronymus Bosch (1450–1516) and an imagined contemporary migrant worker named Juan Coyoc, later known as Juan Domínguez, run in parallel as they mirror each other across languages, time, and continents.
By comparing and at times intertwining these two poetic narratives, the book explores themes of art, migration, narco-violence, family, spirituality, and the idea that every human being represents all humanity at any moment in history. Both Hieronymus Bosch and Juan Domínguez become relatable and intimate figures, part of our own story.
Written in simple, sharp language, the book employs surprising imagery and a novel structure to blur the boundaries between reality and fiction, while examining the intricacies of the human condition—from the life of Saint Anthony to the violent acts of narcos across Central America and the U.S.-Mexico border. With formal sophistication and philosophical depth, this work enriches the tradition of poetry about both migration and art, contributing to the literary heritage of Mexico and the United States over the past several decades.
