On September 5th, ARC partnered with the Lunch Poems series to co-present their first event of the Fall 2024 school year. Sherwin Bitsui, a Diné (Navajo) writer, poet, and Professor of English at Northern Arizona University, presented work from his three collections of poetry, Dissolve, Flood Song, and Shapeshift, along with new work from his upcoming manuscript in a poetry reading at UC Berkeley’s Morrison Library. During the craft talk, Drawing Language from Landscape: An Immersion in Diné Poetic Thought and Structure, Bitsui discussed drawing language from landscape through Diné poetic thought and structure, including ideas on how to risk letting a poem fail—along with a Q&A session that evoked conversation and thought. A book signing and broadside presentation followed, offering an intimate intersection with the audience and writer. Bitsui’s sharing and readings of his pieces left a lasting impression on those who attended the event; check out Sherwin Bitsui’s poetry reading below.
This year, ARC and Lunch Poems collaborated with the CODEX Foundation Logan Book Arts Center, to create a handset, letterpress printed broadside to present both to the poet and the general public, along with a book signing. The reading, craft talk, broadside and book signing were free and open to the public.
