The UA Poetry Center received an award at this year’s Tucson Festival of Books for outstanding service and dedication to the festival.
The Poetry Center has played an integral role in the festival since it began in 2009, helping to identify outstanding poets to invite and manage the poetry venue, said Brenda Viner, one of the festival’s founders and secretary of the board.
The Tucson Festival of Books drew an estimated 130,000 people to campus on March 15 and 16, with presentations by more than 400 authors, including 16 poets.
“TFOB can't imagine a more appropriate partner,” said Executive Director Abra McAndrew. “The national reputation of the UA Poetry Center enhances our capacity to attract major literary stars to Tucson, including poets recognized with Pulitzer and Pushcart Prizes, National Book Awards, Poet Laureates and other significant recognition. The Poetry Center has helped to welcome participating poets to Tucson, a city well-prepared to value and appreciate their work thanks to the education, events and library it offers.”
The TFOB’s 2025 community award was presented at the Friday evening gala for authors, accepted by the Poetry Center Executive Director Tyler Meier and Event Coordinator Paola Valenzuela.
“The Poetry Center is so grateful for the work of the Tucson Festival of Books, and for the juggernaut it has grown in to. It is one of the finest book festivals anywhere, nurturing and celebrating a vibrant city of readers,” Meier said. “For those reasons alone, this recognition from the Tucson Festival of Books is deeply meaningful, and we’re honored to receive this award.”