Community Events

Docent-led Community Events

Poetry Center docents promote the living spirit of poetry as something that can enrich, inspire, sustain, and heal. They serve as ambassadors of poetry and the Poetry Center.

As part of this mission, docents lead a number of public events around our local community. For a full listing of upcoming community events, please visit our calendar by clicking here.

Your Community Event in the Hillman Odeum

The Hillman Odeum is an outdoor amphitheater that can accommodate a range of community events, from performance poetry to student recitations. The stone benches east of the Odeum and in the Mary Dearing Lewis Garden are Coconino sandstone, brought to Tucson from Ash Fork, Arizona, and estimated at 270 million years old. The Odeum is an ideal space for small gatherings, with a capacity of about 60 participants.

We’re excited to share this Odeum space with our community. The Poetry Center can provide sound and seating equipment for check-out for UA-affiliated groups and/or groups that co-sponsor with the Poetry Center for its programming. 

If you are interested in sharing the Hillman Odeum for your literary event, please read the below:

  • All community events held in the Odeum are to be fully administered (set up, hosted, and cleaned up) by your group. The Poetry Center cannot staff or support Odeum community events (including but not limited to chair/table setup, PA and other technical support, lending of tablecloths or other materials), though we are available to answer questions in advance by email or by setting up a meeting with Paola Valenzuela, events coordinator (contact info below).
  • It is most likely we can schedule your event when we have several months’ notice; however, please do be sure to put in a request at least three weeks in advance of your event. We apologize if this multi-use space is not available on a specific date or at a specific time; it will help us schedule successfully if you have flexibility with regard to dates and times.
  • The Hillman Odeum is a space for public community events; if you wish to hold your literary event in the Hillman Odeum, you must ensure that your event is open to the public
  • We ask that if you are interested in sharing this space for your literary event, you please review the following documents. We will collect a signature on the forms in advance of your event, and make arrangements for returning of equipment and data after the event.
  • We also ask that you familiarize yourself with the UA Office of Institutional Equity’s website, http://equity.arizona.edu, and the Poetry Center’s code of conduct (available on our website). Events that take place in the Hillman Odeum must abide by all University policies, including the University’s nondiscrimination and anti-harassment policy, all University substance/alcohol/tobacco policies, and by the Poetry Center’s own code of conduct.

For more information, or to request to hold your literary event in the Hillman Odeum, please contact Paola Valenzuela, Event Coordinator, at valenzuela9@email.arizona.edu. 

Hillman Odeum