Out Here Distinctions Blur: An Interview with Wendy Burk and Eric Magrane
From the Cypresses of Florida to the Mesquites of Summerhaven
Poet and recent addition to the Poetry Center's staff, Wendy Burk, and poet and professional hiking guide, Eric Magrane, recently completed an artist residency in Big Cypress National Preserve, a freshwater swamp of more than 720,000 acres that nourishes the Everglades and marine environments of Southern Florida. Eric and Wendy reflect on their adventures in Big Cypress and give us some insights into their upcoming one-day Poetry Goes for a Hike: Writing in the Field poetry class, which will similarly combine poetry and the wilderness.

Outside Art: These Slabs Align the Mind for Inside Discovery
Geology professor George H. Davis on an unexpected architectural feature of the new Helen S. Schaefer Building
Regents Professor George Davis' vast knowledge of structural geology and tectonics is well known to us at the University of Arizona. When we asked him to describe the Coconino Sandstones that serve as natural benches in the Poetry Center's garden areas, he captured their beauty with scientific inquiry, erudite wit, and poetic beauty.

Read the Article | The University of Arizona Geosciences Department

A Special Tribute to Frances Sjoberg
Chalk Art by Gwyneth Scally and Haikus from many voices
Commissioned by the Poetry Center in honor of Frances Sjoberg's nearly ten years of service, Gwyneth Scally created a chalk portrait in the breezeway of the Helen S. Schaefer Building based on "Two Poems," written by Sjoberg which can be found in her new chapbook Outcrop (Chax Press, 2008). The line below the portrait reads: Wind takes what gravity pulls. This work of art is still on site at the Poetry Center, and is breathtaking when seen in person.

See chalk art and read poems | The Tucson Madonnari Project