Tucson Poet Laureate Logan Phillips will bring 25 local poets to Armory Park on Saturday for a free reading meant to make poetry feel like something for everyone.

Phillips has been planning Poets in the Park since March, when he began his tenure as the city’s poet laureate.

“The intent is to make it something for not only people who know they love poetry, but also those who are curious about it,” said Phillips.

Phillips believes poets are artists who also serve the city through writing, social advocacy and education. That idea inspired the event’s theme: “Poets are cultural workers.”

“Poetry is not just for professional artists, available through academic institutions, but an art form available to all of us,” he said. “Poetry has been essential to human connection forever.”

Many of the poets are colleagues of Phillips, but some he hasn’t met.

“I hope it will lead to new collaborations and opportunities in the future,” he said. “It’s a chance to connect with each other and with the poetry scene in Tucson.”

All the participating poets already run their own poetry readings, presses or open mic events. Each poet will read for three minutes, with pieces representing different poetic tendencies, backgrounds and styles.

“This event is to celebrate these poets as a way of thanking them for their work in our city,” Phillips said.

He said there’s a special kind of magic when a person hears poetry spoken in person rather than watching it on video, encouraging the community to “get analog and spend time with ourselves through language.”

“At a time when people are feeling alienated from each other, poetry asserts itself as a core human technology to combat those things,” he said.

The event was also made possible thanks to the efforts of the University of Arizona Poetry Center, the Academy of American Poets, Art Speaks, Mayor Regina Romero and the Tucson City Council.

The event will begin at 3:30 p.m., when Romero will welcome attendees. In addition to the 25 poets reading their work, Poets in the Park will include an open mic, book swap and activity tables from the Pima County Public Library, KXCI and the UA Poetry Center.

It will also feature music by DJ Humblelianess and opportunities to connect with poets in Tucson.

The event is free, wheelchair accessible and open to all ages and experience levels, regardless of whether a person has ever written, heard or read poetry.

After the event, organizers will publish a chapbook that includes participating poets’ work and information about the spaces in which they are involved.

Saturday will be the first in a series of Poets in the Park events across the city. The next will be held at Udall Park on Nov. 22, and another at Verdugo Park on Feb. 7.

The poetry center will host workshops the day before each of those events, on Nov. 21 and Feb. 6.

Phillips said that while the workshops are an opportunity to get feedback on existing work, “the primary focus is generating new work, exploring new techniques, and finding freedom through writing and understanding language as a site of play.”

Phillips considers Poets in the Park an invitation to Tucson to get involved in the world of poetry.

“Everyone is making time in the middle of the busy season to come together to read; it is something I’m deeply grateful for,” he said, encouraging everyone who wishes to attend to bring a friend. “Bring someone who you think might benefit from freeing up their ideas about who poets are and what poetry can do, in our community and in our own lives.”

Ava Schrag is a University of Arizona journalism student and Tucson Spotlight intern. Contact her at avaschrag@arizona.edu.

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