Events

Iliana Rocha is originally from the Southeast region of Texas, and her family is one of Mexican immigrants. She is the 2019 winner of the Berkshire Prize for a First or Second Book of Poetry for her newest collection, The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez, selected by Oliver de la Paz, available from Tupelo Press. Karankawa, her debut, won the 2014 AWP Donald Hall Prize for Poetry, selected by Joy Harjo, and is available through University of Pittsburgh Press. She holds a PhD from Western Michigan University and is an Associate Professor at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.

Aldo Amparán was born & raised in the border cities of El Paso, TX, & Ciudad Juárez. They earned their MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Texas at El Paso. Amparán is the author of The House Has Teeth (Alice James Books, 2026) and Brother Sleep (AJB, 2022), which won the Alice James Award and was a finalist for the 2023 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry. They have received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and CantoMundo. Amparán’s poetry has also been anthologized in Best New Poets & Latino Poetry: The Library of America Anthology.

http://www.aldoamparan.com
IG: @skygoneout

A native of San Francisco, California, Francisco Aragón is the son of Nicaraguan immigrants. His books include, After Rubén (2020), Glow of Our Sweat (2010), and Puerta de Sol (2005).  He’s also the editor of, The Wind Shifts: New Latino Poetry (2007). His work has appeared in over twenty anthologies, most recently in Latino Poetry: The Library of America Anthology (2024). His most recent book is a book of translations, Handbook of Foams, by Spanish poet Gerardo Diego, published in 2026 by Shearsman Books in England.

A native of San Francisco, CA, he is on the faculty of the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies, where he teaches courses in Latinx poetry and creative writing. He also directs their literary initiative, Letras Latinas. He has read his work widely, including at universities, bookstores, art galleries, and the Dodge Poetry Festival.

For more information, visit: http://franciscoaragon.net and follow him on Instagram @fjaragon2011

230 USF students, faculty, and community members attended the poetry reading with Ocean Vuong in November 2024. Vuong shared how writing has allowed him to make sense of his life and honor his family and their histories. His talent and passion were inspiring and getting to share in the conversation meant so much to our literary community.

Rescheduled due to Hurricane Milton, Alison C. Rollins visited USF in February to read and perform excerpts from her poetry collection, Black Bell (Copper Canyon Press, 2024).

Alison shared details about her creative process and highlighted her decision to have an 'imperfect' performance for this particular collection. 

Paul Hlava Ceballos, author of banana [ ], visited USF in February 2025 to meet with MFA students and give a public poetry reading for our students, faculty, staff, and community.

He shared his experience with writing, archival research, publishing, and processing the emotions involved in digging into the history of bananas in Latin America. He also shared poems about his mother and his upcoming pieces inspired by his work with echocardiography.

Dana Levin, author of Now Do You Know Where You Are, visited campus for an engaging Q&A session with MFA students before finishing the day with a public poetry reading and on-stage interview. Her poems tangle with love, grief, family, and finding (and re-finding) our place in the world. 

USF Faculty Liz Kicak and Natalie Scenters-Zapico celebrated the release of their new books at a joint book launch on campus. Thank you to the faculty, students, friends, and family who attended the event and have supported these authors along the way. Reliquaries (Finish Line Press) and My Perfect Cognate (Copper Canyon Press) are now available.

Ariana Benson read from her debut poetry collection, Black Pastoral (University of Georgia Press, 2023) which won the Cave Canem Poetry Prize, the Kate Tufts Discovery Award, and the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize.

The USF community came together for a poetry reading, Q&A, and book signing with K. Iver, author of Short Film Starring My Lover’s Red Bronco. They discussed themes of grief, remembrance, and healing.

Author of Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers and Horses (newly released!), Jake Skeets gave a public reading and Q&A on campus to students, faculty, and community members. Students also got an opportunity to meet with Skeets for a workshop session during his visit.

Thank you to the Michael Kuperman Memorial Poetry Library for partnering in this series to bring poetry and inspiration to the USF community.