Do you hear poetry when you bite into a ripe avocado? (Or better yet, do you think of ripe avocados when you're reading poetry? 🥑) If you answered yes to either of these questions, this is exhibit is just for you ...
Come to the Table is a new show at the University of Arizona Poetry Center. It explores the connections between food and poetry using a combination of published works and interactive experiences. The show will include selections from literary journals that publish works of culinary poetry, like "The Hungry Ear: Poems of Food and Drink," Southern Foodways Alliance’s "Vinegar & Char," and "Forklift, Ohio."
Also on display: Ode to Guacamole from the book "Adobe Odes" by Pat Mora.
The works are organized using the "four fundamental stages of the culinary experience: growing, sourcing, cooking, and eating." In addition to the published works, there will also be a slideshow about the foodways of the US-Mexico border. In addition, every visitor will have the chance to share their Tucson taste memories in a collaborative poem.
“I’ve always thought of recipes as poems: the musicality and lyricism of them, their pace.” says senior library assistant Leela Denver in a news release. “You’d be hard-pressed to find a poet who hasn’t written about food in one way or another — food is pretty vital to life and human connection.”
Denver curated the exhibition along with Education Coordinator Wren Awry and Dr. Laura Vázquez Blázquez from the department of Spanish and Portuguese. They're holding an opening reception at 2 p.m. Aug. 31 in the Jeremy Ingalls Gallery at the Poetry Center, 1508 East Helen St. The exhibit is on display now and runs until Nov. 23.
