Please note that this reading will take place at Amerind (2100 N Amerind Rd, Dragoon, AZ 85609) and will be outdoors.
The Poetry Center is offering a free bus ride to Amerind, departing from the Poetry Center promptly at 5:30pm, returning at an estimated 10:00pm. Parking in the surface lots surrounding the Poetry Center is free after 5pm. Bus seats are limited and available on a first come, first served basis. For questions about bus seat reservations, or information on how to get on the waitlist, contact Paola Valenzuela at valenzuela9@arizona.edu
You're also welcome to to drive to Amerind on your own— carpooling is encouraged. We also encourage everyone to bring water bottles, camping chairs (if you have them), and to dress in layers for an early April Arizona evening!
We are proud to present, in partnership with Amerind and as part of In-Na-Po’s 2026 Retreat, a reading with Natalie Diaz and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson.
Natalie Diaz was born on the Fort Mojave Indian Village in Needles, California, on the banks of the Colorado River. She is Mojave and an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Tribe (Akimel O’odham). Diaz is the author of Postcolonial Love Poem, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry, finalist for the National Book Award, Forward Prize in Poetry, and Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and winner of a Publishing Triangle Award. Her first book, When My Brother Was an Aztec, was winner of an American Book Award.
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson is a renowned Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg musician, writer and academic, who has been widely recognized as one of the most compelling Indigenous voices of her generation. Leanne is the author of eight books, including A Short History of the Blockade and the novel Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies which was short listed for the Governor General’s Literary Award for fiction and the Dublin Literary Prize.
Founded in 2020, In-Na-Po is a national Indigenous poetry community committed to mentoring emerging writers, nurturing the growth of Indigenous poetic practices, and raising the visibility of all Native Writers past, present, and future. They will host their fifth annual week-long retreat for emerging Native poets at the Amerind Museum in Dragoon, AZ, and at the University of Arizona Poetry Center.
This reading is presented in partnership with Amerind Museum, an academic research center, museum, art gallery, historic property, scenic destination, and community gathering place in Dragoon Arizona, dedicated to work that explores both Native American history and contemporary life. Learn more at Amerind.org.