University of Arizona Poetry Center

Designed by Line and Space LLC, the Helen S. Schaefer Building, our 17,500-foot landmark facility, brings a contemporary note to the University of Arizona campus. Architect Les Wallach employed a design principle called 'a progression toward solitude.' 

The Poetry Center is a leading literary institution and a living archive of poetry. As a premier example of a thriving public/private partnership, the Poetry Center connects the University of Arizona with the greater literary community in Tucson and beyond. They have amassed one of the finest and largest print/digital collections of contemporary poetry in America, with an active schedule of acquisitions. They’ve welcomed over one thousand poets to Tucson to read. Their education programs annually serve Arizona school children, college students, and adults with poetry experiences. Their public/private partnership has invested in a permanent landmark home for poetry in the American Southwest, and this underscores their ongoing commitment to the future of poetry, poetics, literary arts, and the ever-growing diverse community that they serve and cherish.