These two free poetry workshops in Saguaro National Park aim to promote poetry in Arizona

Local poetry enthusiasts will have the opportunity to work on their own poetry while basking in the beauty of the scenic Saguaro National Park during a series of free workshops coming to Tucson next month.

The Poetry in the Parks tour is making its first-ever stop in Saguaro National Park East on the mornings of Saturday, April 16 and Sunday, April 17. The two-day event is hosted by poet Jodie Hollander, a professional poet of 10 years and author of “My Dark Horses.”

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the three-hour workshops are limited to 10 participants per day in Saguaro National Park. Spots are reserved on a first-come, first-served basis.

Other stops on the Arizona Poetry in the Parks workshop tour include Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, Montezuma Well National Monument and Walnut Canyon National Monument.

“We were really, really happy to have Saguaro (National Park) as part of this tour,” Hollander said. “It started off in Flagstaff and then it just sort of expanded across the state. And the hope is that each year will expand a little bit more. We spoke to the Grand Canyon and they're possibly interested in joining in in the future. So we're hoping to turn it into like a statewide poetry tour each year during National Poetry Month (in April).”

The first Poetry in the Parks event was held in 2019 in Flagstaff while Hollander was the poet in residence at the Museum of Northern Arizona. The first event was “so successful” that the Flagstaff National Monument Chief of Interpretation thought it would be a great idea to expand the tour to more places in Arizona, Hollander said.

As Hollander planned and finalized the program for 2020, COVID-19 struck and delayed the workshop tour until this year.

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“I have been wanting to get this thing off the ground for two years now,” Hollander said. “And, you know, with COVID restrictions constantly fluctuating, we weren't even sure until a few weeks ago whether we were going to be able to do this in 2022. So when we got the green light, I was just elated.”

The theme at this year’s Poetry in the Parks is “Writing the Saguaro,” which is an open-ended theme that allows participants to reflect on their “inner or outer landscape,” according to Hollander, who added that for her, an inner landscape is “what's happening within a person's psychology in their own mind and their own body.”

Each workshop involves studying poetry, including line breaks, musicality, telling details and elements that work in poetry. After the study session, participants can work on their poems and workshop them with an optional sharing segment at the end of the event for those who would like to receive feedback on their work.

“I found in my past experience that usually it's just a matter of getting people in the door to try it (poetry),” Hollander said. “And once they try it, they love it. But for some reason, the word poetry sometimes scares people, but maybe less in Tucson, because there's a strong poetry culture there.”

Hollander previously lived in Flagstaff part-time before her move to Fort Collins, Colorado and says that she is most looking forward to seeing all of the cacti at Saguaro National Park during her first visit to Tucson. She called the Poetry in the Parks event a “dream come true” for her.

“I would love to generate more excitement about poetry, you know, especially in Arizona,” she said. “Not that there's a dearth of poetry but my goal is always to show people what poetry can do for them and what it can do for others and to just sort of bring more excitement and enthusiasm around poetry if possible.”

To RSVP for the Saguaro National Park Poetry in the Parks event, email National Park Service Interpretive Ranger Erich Koenig at Erich_Koenig@nps.gov.