Poetry Reading at Scottscale Museum of Contemporary Art

The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) will be resurrecting its poetry series titled “Museum Heart” in honor of a special free December 3rd public reading at 6:30 p.m. in the galleries featuring two notable Arizona poets, Alberto Rios & Brian Diamond. Museum Heart Readings were coined for a poem by the same title written by Alberto Rios which was dedicated to SMoCA during the Museum’s grand opening in 1999. The readings are co-sponsored by the Creative Writing Program at Arizona State University.

Celebrated poet Alberto Rios reads selections from his new book, The Dangerous Shirt, and some pieces from his memoir, Capirotada. A recent finalist for the National Book Award, Rios is the author of ten books and chapbooks of poetry, including The Theater of Night—winner of the 2007 PEN/Beyond Margins Award—three collections of short stories, and a memoir about growing up on the border, Capirotada. Ríos is the recipient of numerous awards and his work is included in over 200 national and international literary anthologies. His work is regularly taught and translated, and has been adapted to dance and both classical and popular music. Ríos is a Regents’ Professor and the Katharine C. Turner Chair in English at Arizona State University.

Brian Diamond will also be reading work for this event. Diamond holds an MA in Creative Writing from California State Northridge and is an MFA candidate at Arizona State University, where he is international poetry editor for HFR. His work has previously appeared in such publications as Sycamore Review, The Los Angeles Review, 42 Opus, Redactions, and Oakbend Review. He is a one-time winner of the New Yorker cartoon contest and is currently working on translations of Yiddish poetry.