Thursdays, August 7th, 14th and 21st, 5:00PM-7:00PM

Meetings will take place in the Poetry Center's Alumni Room, Room 205; limit 12 students. General registration for Summer 2025 will open on Tuesday, May 27th at 10:00AM. 

English author Jane Austen once wrote “[People] themselves alter so much, that there is something new to be observed in them forever.” The same can be said of a neighborhood setting. Whether you live in Barrio Hollywood, Cat Foothills, Menlo Park, South Tucson or Thunderbird Heights, Tucson and its neighborhoods are ever evolving and thus, rich sources for writing.

In this 3-week class we’ll pay close attention to Tucson, its sounds, sights, tastes, textures, and scents. We will bring our current and past neighborhoods to life through a combination of generative writing prompts, readings and discussion. We’ll capture memories connecting us to the Old Pueblo and translate these experiences through poetry, nonfiction, and fiction. Readings will include work by writers who have written about Tucson and its environs such as poets Ofelia Zepeda, Mari Herreras and Mark Doty. Nonfiction examples will include excerpts by Melanie Martinez, Lydia Otero, and Linda Ronstadt (yes, that Linda Ronstadt). Fiction will be sourced from former Tucson residents Jamie Quatro, Mark Jude Poirier and Chicano literary pioneer Mario Suarez. Tours will include short walks in and around our creative neighborhood, the Poetry Center, and a free trolley ride through downtown. When we’re not touring, we’ll read a variety of texts including literature, movie clips and music related to the Old Pueblo to engage our senses. In this multi-genre course, students will focus on starting and finishing a first draft of a creative piece including each week: a poem, an essay, and a flash fiction piece. Students will choose one of these drafts to polish in a final revision. We’ll share our versions of Tucson with each other and in the process learn what the Pueblo Viejo means to each of us.