Ofelia Zepeda at UA Poetry Center In-Na-Po Readings

Date: Thursday, April 2, 2026

Time: 7 p.m., MST

Place: University of Arizona Poetry Center, 1508 East Helen Street, Tucson, AZ

The University of Arizona Poetry Center hosts “Sacred Spaces of Indigenous Poetry: In-Na-Po 2026 First Night Reading,” featuring In-Na-Po Retreat Fellows and Poets Elise Paschen, Rob Arnold, and Ofelia Zepeda on April 2. Ofelia Zepeda is a poet, regents’ professor of linguistics at the University of Arizona, and the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship for her work in American Indian language education. She is the current editor of Sun Tracks, which was launched in 1971 and is one of the first publishing programs to focus exclusively on the creative works of Native Americans.

Founded in 2020, In-Na-Po is a national Indigenous poetry community committed to mentoring emerging writers, nurturing the growth of Indigenous poetic practices, and raising the visibility of all Native Writers past, present, and future. They will host their fifth annual week-long retreat for emerging Native poets at the Amerind Museum in Dragoon, AZ, and at the University of Arizona Poetry Center. The event is free and open to the public.

This reading is presented in partnership with the University of Arizona Office of Native American Advancement and Tribal Engagement and with the Amerind Museum, an academic research center, museum, art gallery, historic property, scenic destination, and community gathering place in Dragoon Arizona, dedicated to work that explores both Native American history and contemporary life.

About When It Rains:

When it was first released in 1982, When It Rains was one of the earliest published literary works in the O’odham language. Speakers from across generations shared poems that showcased the aesthetic of the written word and aimed to spread interest in reading and writing in O’odham.

The poems capture brief moments of beauty, the loving bond between family members, and a deep appreciation of Tohono O’odham culture and traditions, as well as reverent feelings about the landscape and wildlife native to the Southwest. A motif of rain and water is woven throughout the poetry in When It Rains, tying in the collection’s title to the importance of this life-giving and sustaining resource to the Tohono O’odham people. With the poems in both O’odham and English, the volume serves as an important reminder of the beauty and changeability of the O’odham language.

In a new foreword to the volume (2019), Sun Tracks editor Ofelia Zepeda reflects on how meaningful this volume was when it was first published and its continued importance. “Things have changed but many things remain the same,” writes Zepeda. “The pieces in this collection will be meaningful to many still.”