This week's top picks include two new books and one older, published in 2015, 2016 and 1989 respectively. While these are not books that I would immediately add to my favorites list, they are important both to the world of poetry and beyond.

Bastards of the Reagan Era by Reginald Dwayne Betts

Reginald Dwayne Betts read from his book Bastards of the Reagan Era at the University of Arizona Poetry Center on the last day of August last year. Videos of his reading are available on VOCA.

His voice as captivating as the words he spoke, Betts' poetry is relevant in both the time period in which it is set, and in today's political atmosphere as well. Themes such as police brutality, mass incarceration and the battle against racism fill these lyrical and powerful poems. The book takes on a somber tone, exposing some of the ugly truths that many, including the author, faced growing up throughout the 1980s and the lasting effects the Reagan Era had into the '90s and beyond. While reading is a great way to experience this book, I would highly suggest taking a listen to the VOCA recordings.

The Crown Ain't Worth Much by Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib

Another great book from publisher Button Poetry, The Crown Ain't Worth Much is a tiny book that packs a big punch. With the poetry taking on many forms, including blocks of prose, Willis-Abdurraqib explores age-old themes such as family, gender, race, community and love through various timely pop-culture references. The book follows the author through his life experiences starting in 1998 and ending in 2015, the year before the book was published. The poems intertwine the themes with lived experiences, such as time spent at the barber shop and concerts attended. Characters such as as the speaker's wife, the ghost of his mother and friends add depth to the poems.

"Never simple, always beautiful, Willis-Abdurraquib’s poems expand what epic story poetry can tell." - Los Angeles Review

Sonnets by Bernadette Mayer

 "I looked through my last poems in the morning and discovered I'd been writing the always somehow peripheral sonnet all along without understanding the forms of brief conclusive thought the poems had been taking so often in 14 lines without me."

This quote from Bernadette Mayer printed on the back cover of Sonnets tells you more about her writing style than any review. Long rambling sentences often lacking complete sense but giving you a general idea of what she is talking about is what most of this book entails. I was instructed  to read this book as an undergrad because of it's contradiction with the traditional form reserved for sonnets. Throughout the sentences within the poems, the confines of grammar are stretched with the order of words often jumbled. This book makes the reader work to understand the poetry and teaches about creativity through stretching the limits of meaning and form. While this book isn't as important in the social and political ways that the previous two are, it is important to the study of contemporary poetry.

As always, if you have recommendations of books of poetry to read, write them in the comments! 

How does one define place? “Place” may occur in nature, in the city or in our professional lives.

On Monday, Oct. 15 at 6 p.m. at the Tucson Museum of Art, UA College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture and the American Institute of Architects Southern Arizona will host “Cultures of Place” lecture series “Drawing as a Way to See”. Presented by Frank Harmon and sponsored by Studio Rick Joy, this lecture will bring attention on the ways we define “place”.

Harmon has designed sustainable modern buildings across the Southeast for 30 years. His work engages contemporary issues such as sustainability, restoration of cities and nature and "placelessness."

Harmon graduated from the Architectural Association in London and is a professor at the North Carolina State University’s College of Design. His buildings have won over 200 design awards. He recently received the AIA North Carolina Gold Medal for Architectural Design and his book, “Native Places, Drawing as a Way to See,” was published by Oro Publications in September.

Learn about the places each of us inhabits, the cultures that condition and interpret them and the role architecture can play in our world.

Some of his projects include:
1. STARworks Center for Creative Enterprise Star, NC in 2016
2. Seven Sisters Residence St. Helena's Island, SC in 2014
3. JC Raulston Arboretum Lath House Raleigh, NC in 2010
4. Walnut Creek Urban Wetland Education Center Raleigh, NC in 2009
5. Circular Congregational Church Charleston, SC in 2008 

The Faces of the Festival segment of Tucson Meet Yourself documents the diversity of faces, ages and cultures that come together annually for the festival. Among the faces are a Buddhist monk, Latino musician, Native American pageant winner, and perhaps even you.

"One remarkable thing about Tucson Meet Yourself that not everyone knows is that the audience is as diverse as the participants,” Kimi Eisele, the communications director of the Southwest Folklife Alliance and organizer of Faces of the Festival said. “This is somewhat unusual in the world of folklife or cultural festivals.”

Professional photographer Steven Meckler started working with Tucson Meet Yourself several years ago to capture festival attendees, but the team did not start interviewing the “faces” until 2017.

“It’s a cultural event, but it’s always individuals that create a culture,” Meckler said. “So, we wanted to get to know a little more of the people there.” 

Previously, the beautiful photos helped decorate offices, but a board member pushed for the project to be something developed on social media over the course of the year. Now, the Tucson Meet Yourself website has a section dedicated to Faces of the Festival, where it releases a new “face” more or less weekly, with a paragraph about the person.

“The project of documenting folklore is very much about learning who someone is,” Eisele said. “Not merely appreciating their look.”

Eisele said her favorite moments were when people let down their guard and showed more authentic and natural behavior.

“I like to wait for the extra story,” she said. “The thing that maybe doesn’t come out right away.”

Her favorite example of this was when she interviewed Young Miss Pascua Yaqui, a Native American pageant winner, last year. The girl, Pascuala, started talking about her culture, traditions and overall background, but after Eisele put down the recorder and explained the project to her father, Young Miss Pascua Yaqui realized she could talk about what she loved aside from her culture. Eisele proceeded to turn the recorder back on and listen to the girl talk about the cello and her love of classical music.

“To me, that was just such a powerful moment,” Eisele said. “Because she shared something unexpected about herself, something no one would ever know from just seeing her face."

Kit Estes was another “face” of the festival and few people would have filled the criteria better.

“I go to it every year,” Estes said. “I am kind of well-known there by the people who work there and the people who go there.”

Estes’ feels like he belongs wherever there’s a festival. You can often find him freestyle dancing, letting himself loose and taking in the event atmosphere while going from stage to stage.

“This is one of the few of times where there is a great mass of people are all there to do things that actually give them joy,” he said. “I think it is one of the great things Tucson has going for it.”

Meckler will take Faces of the Festival photos on Saturday, Oct. 13 near City High School.

“We just look for interesting people,” Meckler said.

For more information, visit tucsonmeetyourself.org

In Spanish the word encuentro means to meet together. Binational Encuentro: Female Migrations is a multi-day event that showcases 18 different artists and activists from Tucson, Phoenix, Douglas and Mexico City. The event provides artistic workshops, discussions and performances to address migrant issues such as gender violence when crossing the border.

Sadie Shaw is one of the artists contributing this year and is currently a student in Art and Visual Culture Education at the University of Arizona. Shaw uses her art to convey issues relating to racial identities and underlying cultural prejudices.

“It’s the artist’s responsibility to not only create beauty, but to also showcase things that are painful or ugly to look at or feel,” she said. “In this way, art can elevate the community.”

Shaw held a workshop called Universal Sign Language Game, on Thursday, Oct. 11, that encouraged people to break the barrier of spoken language. The workshop encouraged participants to communicate with each other through hand motions, laughter and facial expressions.

“I wanted to show people that even if you don't speak a certain language, you can usually communicate words or ideas without speaking,” Shaw said. “The workshop showed that even through migration, all humans can understand body language, and its not much of an obstacle as we perceive it to be.”

Local First Arizona and many community partners are launching a new signature event to connect community members of all ages to learn how to engage in localism through micro-workshops focused on topics related to sustainability, technology, and more.

Discover Local, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 14, will be the kick-off event of the TENWEST Festival for 2018. TENWEST Festival welcomes more than 5,000 innovators and collaborators to experience more than 100 unique events and exhibitions in Tucson. This annual multi-day festival encourages curiosity and discovery in arts, social impact, sustainability, entrepreneurship and technology in our community.

Discover Local, hosted at the Tucson Museum of Art, will offer Tucsonans the opportunity to connect with local businesses and nonprofits through innovative hands-on activities that are educational as well as fun. Through these micro-workshop experiences and other activities, Discover Local attendees will be able to experience the power of Tucson’s local businesses and organizations. From water harvesting and earth works to technology and arts, desert gardening and urban arts culture, Discover Local will highlight ways to get involved with diverse organizations that strengthen the Tucson economy. The main goal is to connect the community to actions on localism and sustainability and understanding how the choices you make and the interactions you have each day affect the entire Tucson ecosystem.

This free and family-friendly event in partnership with Tucson Museum of Art's Second SundAZe Family Day offers free admission to the museum for residents of Arizona and Sonora, Mexico. Visit the new exhibit, 30 Americans, and join in on a Kehinde Wiley inspired selfie station, art-making projects and a performance by Liudvik Luis Cutiño Cruz at 1 p.m.

At this weekend's Tucson Meet Yourself Festival, the Food Justice Expo will be featuring different organizations, food businesses and non profits from Southern Arizona. Through sampling, interactive displays and demonstrations, the expo will shed light on the many food initiatives that Tucson has to offer.

The Food Justice Expo is a partnership between Tucson City of Gastronomy and Southwest Folklife Alliance. Tucson was selected to be the first UNESCO City of Gastronomy in the United States due to the region's agricultural history and vibrant culinary scene.

Erik Stanford, who works for Tucson City of Gastronomy and is the coordinator of the Food Justice Expo, said that the intention of the expo is to highlight food justice organizations and their initiatives in Tucson.

Organizations like Compost Cats will be working with food waste activism and an organization called Tierra Y Libertad that works to improve food access in Southside neighborhoods will also be at the festival.

There will be  13 different food justice organizations that will be represented throughout the weekend of the festival including Mission Garden, Café 54, Community Food Bank, L.O.C.A.S and Felicia's Farm. 

Café 54, a non-profit training program in addition to being a restaurant, will be one of the local food businesses featured at the Food Justice Expo. The café is a program of Coyote TaskForce, which is an employment-training program for adults recovering from mental illness.

Joanna Kyl, a development coordinator for Coyote TaskForce through Café 54, said that the café will offer samples of the their signature rosemary rolls and will be teaching their trainees bread making at the Tucson Meet Yourself festival.

"I think the event will do a great job of showing the incredible resources that Tucson offers and will bring attention to the culture and culinary diversity in Tucson as well," Kyl said.

Visit the Tucson Meet Yourself Festival and the Food Justice Expo this weekend Friday, Oct. 12, Saturday, Oct. 13, and Sunday Oct. 14.

For more information about the Tucson Meet Yourself Festival click here.

The annual Tucson Meet Yourself Folklife Festival will be hosting 56 food booths this year, each representing different nationalities of food. Attendees can find food for under $12 a plate.

According to TMY Lead Folklorist Maribel Alvarez, many of the vendors come from churches, clubs and community groups and the food they cook and sell represents their cultures and traditions. TMY keeps their costs low and helps out with organization to ensure success at the festival. As this is the largest grassroots entrepreneurial event in Tucson, it is a great opportunity for all vendors.

The newest additions to the food vendor group for TMY 2018 include the following:

San Xavier Cooperative Farm, Tohono O’odham Native Foods:
Representing the Tohono O'odham people who have been native agriculturists for the last 4,000 years, this vendor will be serving authentic Native American food. This includes cholla bud salsa, tepary beans, kaiwus, and much more. Learn More.


Holy Toledo Catering:
Although his restaurant, Holy Toledo, only serves Pizza and Tacos, when he is catering Chef Toledo is able to make many other unique items. At TMY he will be serving, mole, a traditional Oaxacan dish. Learn More.

La Fondita Chilena:
Yamila El-Khayat is bringing back her mothers traditional Chilean cuisine. El-Khayat grew up watching her mother sell her traditional dishes at TMY when she was a child. This year El-Khayat and her husband are bringing the back tradition in their own way. They will be serving empanadas, humitas and chilean salad. Learn More.

BK's Tacos:
A popular Tucson Restaurant, BK Tacos will be featuring their award winning Sonoran hot dog, carne asada tacos and caramelos. Its unique preparation has been quite the hit, they cook it to perfection over a mesquite fire, giving it a flavor fusion. Learn More.

Solid Grindz Hawaiian Food Restaurant & Food Truck:
Starting out as a food truck on Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Solid Grindz quickly gained a large following. A short two years later the owners opened an authentic Hawaiian and Polynesian restaurant. A mix of their Hawaiian and Polynesian cuisine will be at TMY. Learn More.

Off-the-Hook Seafood:
Matthew Kearney first started Off-the-Hook to remember a taste of home, New England, but also decided to add a Southern twist. For those of you who are looking to taste the flavor of New England, you will be guaranteed to get it at TMY.

Nur Market and Restaurant:
Started by three refugee brothers from Somalia in 1990, they bring a taste from home. While the market started in 2008, the brothers added a restaurant in 2010. They serve a variety of food that will take you out of your comfort zone. They will be serving lamb, goat, chicken, fish, shawarma and sambusa. Learn More.

Masri: An authentic Egyptian cuisine, offering Koshary, a national dish in Egypt, which is a Vegan dish including rice, pasta, onions and much more. You will not find this dish anywhere else as it is a top secret family recipe. 

Want to try your hand at juggling or acrobatics with experts available for hands-on instruction? Look for the circus performers at Tucson Meet Yourself Folk Festival on October 12-14 in downtown Tucson.

Performers from Big Toe Acro, Circus Academy of Tucson, Cirque Roots, Circus Sanctuary, Flight School, Acro Kinetic Arts, Tucson Les Femmes Merveilleuse and  Movement Culture will roam around the festival busking for donations to help keep the festival free. They will also demonstrate their skills and assist anyone wanting to attempt the circus arts such as juggling, acrobatics and more.

Performers will also be at the corner of Stone Ave. and Pennington St. all weekend.

Learn more here

If you're from Tucson you're definitely familiar with the annual Tucson Meet Yourself festival. If you're from out of town, you still may know about the event. But did you know that the organizers had to move the festival to a different location? Don't worry, it's not far from its original spot at El Presidio Park.

The organizers of the festival had no choice but to choose a new location. The city informed them that it would not be able to issue them a permit to host the event at El Presidio Park this year because of the parking garage underneath the park. The concern is that, with Tucson Meet Yourself attendance growing every year, the park would literally not be able to hold the weight that will accompany the festival.

So if you were aware that the event moved and maybe upset because it has been hosted at El Presidio Park since 1974, keep in mind the organizers and city have your best interests in mind: they don't want you to fall through the ground!

On top of that, the new location will provide much more space for vendors, performers, and the public.

The new location is on North Stone and Church Avenues, between Congress and Alameda, and on Pennington Ave.

Reid Park hosted this years 41st annual Tucson Pride Festival. According to the Tucson Pride website: 

Tucson Pride envisions a community of diverse, empowered and accepted individuals to live full and authentic lives, with the love and support of an understanding community.

Tucson Pride Festival celebrates that mission by filling a safe space with all of the diverse and supporting LGBTQA+ members of our Southern Arizona Community. There were live performances and dance parties in addition to the food and vendors and oh so many rainbows!

This year raised over $60,000 by the end of it, nearly doubling that of last years $37,000 in proceeds from the event.