Books & Reading

Lawrence Clark Powell Memorial Lecture

About the Lawrence Clark Powell Memorial Lecture

The lecture honors the late Lawrence Clark Powell, librarian, literary critic, prolific author, self-proclaimed "bibliomaniac," and Tucson resident for more than 30 years. Powell helped to found the University of Arizona's School of Library and Information Science in the 1970s. After his death in 2001, the library began celebrating his contributions with the lecture.

In memory of Powell's writings and reverence for the Southwest, the lecture bearing his name is delivered by an author whose breadth of work reflects the values, landscape, history and culture of the region.

In addition to the lecture, the library honors one person with the Lawrence Clark Powell Lifetime Achievement Award for his/her contribution to southwestern letters. This award, sometimes called "The Powie," was first presented in 2002.

The lecture is one of a series of literary events presented in December by the Pima County Public Library's Southwest Literature Project.

2007

Lecturer: Luci Tapahonso

On December 6, 2007 Luci Tapahonso delivered the seventh annual Lawrence Clark Powell Memorial lecture. Listen now.

Luci Tapahonso is a professor of American Indian Studies and English at the University of Arizona. Known for her stories of growing up and living on the Navajo Nation in northwest New Mexico, she is the author of five books of poetry as well as three children's books. Her writing expresses her love of the Navajo world and gives readers a new way of understanding themselves and their connections to each other.

Blue Horses Rush In, which received the Mountain and Plains Booksellers Association's 1998 Award for Poetry "...marks a major accomplishment in American literature for its successful blending of Navajo cultural values and forms with the English language, while at the same time retaining the Navajo character," noted the University of Arizona Press.

Tapahonso's recognitions and honors also include the 2006 Lifetime Achievement award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas.

Lifetime Achievement Award: J.C. Martin

Listen now to J.C. Martin's acceptance speech at the seventh annual Lawrence Clark Powell Memorial lecture on December 6, 2007.

Journalist J.C. Martin was honored for her lifetime contribution to southwestern letters.

Currently the author of "Southern Arizona Authors," a monthly column that appears in the Arizona Daily Star, Martin recently retired as coordinator of Southwest Books of the Year - a publication she began nearly 31 years ago as a listing of the year's best books written about the Southwest.

2006

Lecturer: Jimmy Santiago Baca

You can listen to the lecture given by Jimmy Santiago Baca on December 7, 2006 right here. Listen now.

One of the foremost voices in American literature and poetry, Baca's rags-to-riches writing career began 25 years ago in a most unlikely place - behind bars in Arizona's maximum security prison in Florence.

Then, he was functionally illiterate, serving time in solitary confinement. Today, he is the winner of the Pushcart Prize, the National Book Award for Poetry, the International Hispanic Heritage Award, the International Prize, and has held the Wallace Stevens Endowed Chair, Yale University and the Regents Chair, University of California, Berkeley.

His recent published works include his memoir, A Place to Stand, winner of the prestigious International Award, a collection of short stories entitled The Importance of a Piece of Paper, and Winter Poems Along the Rio Grande.

Today, Baca also conducts writing workshops for children and adults at schools, community centers and correctional facilities. While in Tucson, he conducted workshops at the Tucson Complex of the Arizona State Prison on South Wilmot Road and the Pima County Juvenile Detention Center.

Lifetime Achievement Award: Winn Bundy

Winn Bundy - Listen now to Winn Bundy's acceptance speech at the sixth annual Lawrence Clark Powell Memorial lecture on December 7, 2006.

Winn Bundy, owner of the Singing Wind Bookshop in Benson, Arizona, received the 2006 Lawrence Clark Powell Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to southwestern letters.

Bundy's bookshop has been a destination for lovers of Southwestern literature since 1974, when she set up shop in an alcove of her Benson-area cattle ranch. Over time her "book stock" has grown to tens of thousands of titles. Her reputation for shelving a rich representation of southwestern authors and regional topics draws avid readers from around the world.

Bundy holds master's degrees in history and library science from the University of Arizona. She credits her friend, Lawrence Clark Powell - librarian, literary critic, prolific author, self-proclaimed "bibliomaniac" and Tucson resident for 30 years - for nurturing her love of books and literature.

Honorees

Thanks to Our Sponsors

The Lawrence Clark Powell Memorial Lecture is made possible by a generous gift from the Friends of the Pima County Public Library, with additional support from the Arizona Historical Society.

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