The Publications Unit in the Department of English is hosting a hybrid poetry reading book launch event for Arizona SB 1070: An Act by Ryan Clark ’13, published by Downstate Legacies, the literary imprint of the Publications Unit.
Poet and ISU alumnus Ryan Clark ’13 will read from Arizona SB 1070: An Act at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, February 25 in the Atrium in the Bone Student Center along with special guest Jose-Luis Moctezuma, award-winning author of Place-Discipline (Omnidawn, 2018). The event will also be available virtually via live stream on Zoom (registration required). Books will be available for sale at the event or available for purchase online. The hybrid event is free and open to the public.
- Attending virtually? Register for the Zoom event; a link to the live event will be sent after registering.
- Attending in-person? The event will take place in the Atrium in the Bone Student Center.
About Arizona SB 1070: An Act
While it may be true that art cannot redeem the flaws of our deleterious society, it can often reveal more anodyne alternatives nested neatly inside the familiar. Such is the vision of Ryan Clark’s Arizona SB 1070: An Act, a homophonic translation that writes against the hateful and xenophobic 2010 Arizona anti-immigration law that gives the book its title and emerged as a harbinger of much vileness in word and deed during the long decade that followed its passing. Clark’s translation innovatively rescripts the bill and calls to the fore the contested nature of language in Arizona. His deft choices and rigorous techniques destabilize and transform the letters of the law itself, using linguistic processes and a keen poet’s ear to morph the bill’s divisive language into tender, vulnerable, and compassionate lyric poetry that seeks to untangle knots of unease and advocate for healing. While interrogating and investigating the fear of immigrants that buttresses a climate of oppression in which a bill like Arizona SB 1070 becomes law, Clark’s work also pursues a public space where difficult dialogues about the wounds such legislation has continued to open—and reopen—are paramount.
About the Poets
A homophonic translation that writes against the xenophobic 2010 Arizona anti-immigration law … Clark innovatively rescripts the bill and calls to the fore the contested nature of language in Arizona
Ryan Clark writes much of his work through a unique method of homophonic translation. He is the author of the book How I Pitched the First Curve (Lit Fest Press) and the chapbook And Bring My Developing Hands (Con/Crescent Press). His poetry has appeared in such journals as DIAGRAM, Painted Bride Quarterly, Yemassee, Posit, and Barzakh. He holds an MFA from Naropa University’s Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, as well as a Ph.D. in English Studies from Illinois State University. A native Texan, Clark now lives in Forest City, Iowa, where he teaches and serves as director of creative writing at Waldorf University.
Jose-Luis Moctezuma jlmoctezuma.com is a xicano poet, essayist, and researcher. He received a Ph.D. in English from the University of Chicago. His poetry and criticism have been published (or are forthcoming) in Postmodern Culture, Modernism/modernity, Fence, Jacket2, Chicago Review, MAKE Magazine, and elsewhere. His chapbook, Spring Tlaloc Seance, was published by Projective Industries in January 2016. His first full-length book, Place-Discipline, was published by Omnidawn in October 2018. Place-Discipline was selected by Myung Mi Kim as the winner of the 2017 Omnidawn 1st/2nd Poetry Book Prize. Born in San Gabriel, California, he now lives and teaches in Chicago.
About Downstate Legacies
Arizona SB 1070: An Act is the fourth book from Downstate Legacies, an imprint focused on publishing poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, with an emphasis on promoting the work of writers from the Midwest. Founded by Steve Halle in 2015, previous Downstate Legacies titles include Härte by Sade LaNay (2018), Infrastructures by Elizabeth Hatmaker (2017), and The Art of Salvage by Bill Morgan (2016). Downstate Legacies is a teaching press, and ISU students collaborate with professional staff at the Publications Unit during each step of the book production process. Follow Downstate Legacies on Facebook or Twitter @Downst8Legacies.
The event is sponsored by the Harold K. Sage Foundation, the Illinois State University Foundation Fund, and the Department of English.
For more information or if you need an accommodation in order to attend this event, please contact Steve Halle, Director of the Publications Unit at cshalle@ilstu.edu (309) 438-7481. Follow the Publications Unit on Twitter @PubUnit_ISU and on Instagram @PubUnit.
