Logan Phillips at Explore Books: Reckon

What does it mean to have been born in Tombstone, Arizona?

In Reckon (The University of Arizona Press, 2026), artist Logan Phillips (Poet Laureate of Tucson, Arizona) returns to the fabled site of his childhood to confront the frontier stories he inherited as a boy: outlaw gunfights, Hollywood cowboys, and the racial and gendered power structures that sustained them. Blending poetry, memoir, newspaper clippings, and screenplay, Reckon is a witty and moving examination of sexuality, masculinity, parenting, and the contradictions of loving a landscape built on erasure and “slathered in murder.” With an original, searing voice, Reckon is an essential answer to the tough questions of past and future, inheritance and reinvention, all from the perspective of a boy stuck in the middle.

Phillips will read from Reckon, and be joined in conversation by acclaimed poet Natasha Carrizosa of Ft. Worth, Texas.

“‘This isn’t poetry, this is the news.’ I’ve never read a book like Logan Phillips’ Reckon. It’s almost not accurate to call it a book—it transcends genre, mixing history, personal narrative, myth, memoir, and poetry..." – Javier Zamora, author of 'Solito'"

Flying through masculine silence, RECKON is the owl." –Sesshu Foster, author of 'Atomik Aztex'

Logan Phillips is a writer, performer and cultural worker, currently serving as Poet Laureate of Tucson, Arizona. He is recipient of a 2026 Poet Laureate Fellowship from the Academy of American Poets and is author of the books Reckon (University of Arizona Press, 2026), Sonoran Strange (West End Press, 2015), and the ongoing NoVoGRAFíAS series (Artspeak Press).

Phillips is known for bilingual readings (English / Spanish), and multimedia performance art pieces, which have been featured at festivals in the US, Mexico, Colombia, the UK and Germany. Holding collaboration as a core creative practice, he has contributed to a wide range of publishing, music, education and community-centered, land-based projects. More at Dirtyverbs.com and @dirtyverbs.

Natasha Carrizosa is a poet, writer, and speaker. Her work is deeply rooted in her childhood and life experiences. Raised as the daughter of a fierce African-American mother and Mexican father, her writing reflects the dichotomy of these two rich cultures.

Author of mexiafricana, heavy light, and crown. Her work has been published in Manteca! - an anthology of Afro-Latino poets, CONTRA: Texas Poets Speak Out, The Ascentos Review, Learn Then Burn 2, defunkt & cutthroat magazines, R2: The Rice Review, huizache #9, and AfroLatinas and LatiNegras (Critical Africana Studies.)

She has shared and performed her work for audiences around the world. She is a Coolspeaker (youth engagement company.) She has collaborated with Aspen Challenge, Aspen Youth Leadership Forum, Aspen Words, Bezos Scholars, Write About Now, Public Poetry, Tintero Projects, WITS (Writers in the Schools) and Poets & Writers.

Featured on NBC5, Fox 26, Write About Now, Afro Latina World, SoundCloud, Poets & Writers. Noggin Notes Africa, El Nuevo Sol, and Pod Have Mercy (Apple Podcasts.)