The University of Arizona Press
Date: Thursday, November 5, 2026
Time: 7 p.m., MST
Place: University of Arizona Poetry Center, Helen S. Schaefer Building, 1508 E. Helen St., Tucson, AZ
In celebration of the 100th publication in the Sun Tracks Series, The University of Arizona Press and the Poetry Center present a reading featuring Luci Tapahonso, Danielle Williams and Sherwin Bitsui. This reading is also the inaugural reading for the Poetry Center’s Ofelia Zepeda Reading for Indigenous Poets.
Luci Tapahonso is a professor emerita of English Literature (UNM) and the inaugural Diné Nation Poet Laureate. She authored six award-winning books, including A Radiant Curve, Blue Horses Rush In, and three children’s books. She contributed to The Diné Reader: An Anthology of Navajo Literature. She also taught at the University of Kansas and the University of Arizona.
is a Black and Chamorro poet, essayist, translator, and spoken-word artist from Columbia, South Carolina whose work traces identity, heritage, and belonging across cultures and generations. She is the author of the chapbook Who All Gon’ Be There? and the poetry collection Chamorrita Song.
Sherwin Bitsui is the author of four collections of poetry, The Next Sky, Dissolve, Flood Song, and Shapeshift. He contributed to the The Diné Reader. He is the recipient of a Whiting Award, an American Book Award, and the PEN Book Award. He is Diné of the Todí¬ch’ii’nii (Bitter Water Clan), born for the Tlizí¬laaní¬ (Many Goats Clan), and has received fellowships from the Lannan Foundation and the Native Arts & Culture Foundation.
In addition to the free and in-person reading, all Reading & Lecture Series events are streamed live on the Poetry Center website.
About Chamorrita Song:
Rooted in oral tradition, Chamorrita Song pays homage to Black and Chamorro cultures, honoring the artistic expressions that these communities have created to reconcile lifetimes of imposed trauma. Bearing witness to these many narratives, Williams intertwines spoken word poetry and gospel music with Chamorro storytelling, weaving together the nuanced histories of queer, Black, and Indigenous existence and literature.
About Blue Horses Rush In:
Blue Horses Rush In takes its title from a poem about the birth of her granddaughter Chamisa, whose heart “pounded quickly and we recognized / the sound of horses running: / the thundering of hooves on the desert floor.” Through such personal insights, this collection follows the cycle of a woman’s life and underlines what it means to be Navajo in the late twentieth century. The book marks a major accomplishment in American literature for its successful blending of Navajo cultural values and forms with the English language, while at the same time retaining the Navajo character. Here, Luci Tapahonso walks slowly through an ancient Hohokam village, recalling stories passed down from generation to generation. Later in the book, she may tell a funny story about a friend, then, within a few pages, describe family rituals like roasting green chiles or baking bread in an outside oven. Throughout, Tapahonso shares with readers her belief in the power of pollen and prayer feathers and sacred songs.
About The Diné Reader:
The Diné Reader: An Anthology of Navajo Literature is unprecedented. It showcases the breadth, depth, and diversity of Diné creative artists and their poetry, fiction, and nonfiction prose.This wide-ranging anthology brings together writers who offer perspectives that span generations and perspectives on life and Diné history. The collected works display a rich variety of and creativity in themes: home and history; contemporary concerns about identity, historical trauma, and loss of language; and economic and environmental inequalities.
The Diné Reader developed as a way to demonstrate both the power of Diné literary artistry and the persistence of the Navajo people. The volume opens with a foreword by poet Sherwin Bitsui, who offers insight into the importance of writing to the Navajo people.
