Center since 1960. This photographic tradition, started by the Poetry Center's first director, LaVerne Harrell Clark, continues to this day. Readings, lectures, and symposia Beginning in 1962 with readings by Stanley Kunitz and Kenneth Rexroth, the Poetry Center has presented over 1000 writers, including most major U.S. poets of this era, significant international visitors, and emerging writers. Lectures by visiting and local writers and scholars are held throughout the year. Symposia with visiting and local writers focused on a wide variety of literary topics are also presented. Residencies and the tradition of the Poet's Cottage Part of the Poetry Center's first home was a small house reserved for poets and writers visiting Tucson. The residence, or "Poet's Cottage," has always been a part of the Center's special character. The Fieries and Snuffies wrought-iron legend displayed over the door refers to the creative process. Ruth Stephan wrote that poets and writers "work in fiery bursts of creativity and snuff out most of the results with an eraser." In 1994, the Poetry Center inaugurated a residency program to offer poets a month-long opportunity to develop work and to access the Center's archives. The residencies are awarded through a national juried competition. The residence in the new Poetry Center building carries on the tradition of the Poet's Cottage by providing a secluded studio apartment and private garden patio within the complex. Poetry Center educational programs The Poetry Center administers a diverse range of programs and educational activities that create poetic literacy and cultivate a wide literary readership.Adult ProgramsThroughout the year, the Poetry Center offers non-credit creative writing workshops as well as classes and seminars on poetry and prose. Shop Talk discussion groups offer mini-lectures on featured poets, followed by a conversation on the poet's work. The Closer Look Book Club provides an opportunity for in-depth conversation about prose literature. The Poetry Center also provides support to the Arizona State Prison Creative Writing Workshops founded by University of Arizona Regents' Professor Richard Shelton and supported by a grant from the Lannan Foundation. Inmates attend weekly workshops, write, edit and submit work to a dedicated journal, Rain Shadow, which is available at the Poetry Center.Pre-K to 12 ProgramsThe Poetry Center offers a monthly Family Days activity program for children of all ages and their families. It also offers online poetry resources and lesson plans for teachers of all grade levels. High school outreach includes a