The Poetry Center is happy to welcome poets Gillian Conoley, in town from Sonoma County, and Rodrigo Toscano, formerly of the Bay Area though for this occasion he's flying in from where he now lives, in New Orleans.  

Gillian Conoley, poet, editor, and translator, is the author of ten critically acclaimed collections of poetry, including her most recent Notes from the Passenger (Nightboat Books, 2023), currently short-listed for the California Independent Bookseller’s Golden Poppy Award. Often comprising narrative, lyric, and fragmented forms, her work takes up an inquiry into spirit and matter, the individual and the state. Conoley received the Shelley Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America, among other awards. She has taught at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, the University of Denver, Vermont College, Tulane, and Sonoma State University. A long-time resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, she is editor of VOLT magazine. Her translations of three books by Henri Michaux, Thousand Times Broken, appearing in English for the first time, is with City Lights. https://www.gillianconoley.com/

Rodrigo Toscano is a poet and dialogist based in New Orleans. He is the author of eleven books of poetry. His latest two books are The Cut (Counterpath, 2023), The Charm & The Dread (Fence, 2022). His Collapsible Poetics Theater was a National Poetry Series selection) His poetry has appeared in over 20 anthologies, including Best American Poetry (2004, 2023) and Best American Experimental Poetry (BAX). Toscano received a New York State Fellowship in Poetry. He was an honorable mention for the International Latino Book Awards. He won the Edwin Markham 2019 prize for poetry. rodrigotoscano.com @Toscano200