Tatiana Luboviski-Acosta and Daisy Zamora: October 4, 2018

Tatiana Luboviski-Acosta speaks on their experience as the Fall 2018 Mazza Writer in Residence before reading a new untitled poem, beginning "Having found yourself escalated by yourself...." They then preface their next work with a trigger warning, and read "A Film About Bleeding, Composed of Previously Discarded Fragments," which was published the previous day at SFMOMA's magazine Open Space.

After a brief introduction by Tatiana Luboviski-Acosta, Daisy Zamora reads, in Spanish and English, starting with "Cuando las veo pasar / When I See Them Passing By." She then reads "A una dama que lamenta la dureza de mis versos / To the woman who laments the harshness of my verse," "A cada quien la vida / To Each One Life," "Fiel ama de casa / Faithful Housewife," "Prescripcion / Prescription," "Cuentes de Hadas / Fairy Tales," "Otilia planchadora / Otilia, Ironing Woman," "La mesera (2) / The Waitress," and "Mensaje urgente a mi madre / Urgent Message to My Mother," all from The Violent Foam. She then introduces a series of new poems about Nicaragua: "Celebracion 39 Aniversario / 39th Anniversary Celebration," "Mensaje a Marta / Message to Martha," and "Nicaragua / Nicaragua." She follows by reading a series of poems set in San Francisco; "La inmigrante / The Immigrant" from The Violent Foam; an unpublished poem titled "The Drunken Girl"; "Streetcar, San Francisco" from La violenta espuma; "The Landlord's Son (19th Street, The Mission, San Francisco)" from The Violent Foam; "A Diego Rivera on Valencia Street"; "Salvodoran Woman Killed on Fillmore Street"; and the unpublished poem "Onyx Dinosaur." She ends by reading "Death Abroad" and "Ser Mujer / To Be a Woman" from The Violent Foam, dedicating the poem to the women in the audience.

Tatiana Luboviski-Acosta and Daisy Zamora take questions from the audience. They speak on the necessity for younger poets to write and speak their truth everyday, to pay attention to the world, and to be "witnesses of our times." They discuss questions about writing through trauma, feeling a disconnect from their own writing, and the processes behind their work. Zamora speaks of how "life writes poetry through my hand," and Luboviski-Acosta describes feeling a sense of "national trauma" in response to the Blasey-Kavanaugh U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearing, beginning the previous week. In response to a question about overcoming stage fright Luboviski-Acosta remarks that they are still afraid, but that the need of not wanting to be a victim propels them to speak their truth. Zamora comments that "If you're not nervous, you're not paying attention." Zamora is asked if poetry is often used in Nicaragua to speak back to oppression, to which Zamora responds that, as a people used to tragedy, Nicaraguans employ poetry as a "weapon of the people" in expressing their will to live. When asked how their individual educations have influenced their writing today, Zamora remarks that her poetry describes an overall life experience, and that her education is propelled by a lifelong investment in curiosity and staying interested in the world. Luboviski-Acosta speaks of the importance of libraries, reading, and "moving through the world" as part of their education.