University of Arizona Poetry Center

Abstract

“Poetry is the food of the spirit, and spirit is the instigator of all revolutions, wether political or personal, wether national, worldwide, or within the life of a single quiet human being”. These words are attributed to Ruth Walgreen Stephan (1910–1974) who first visited Arizona in the 1930’s. Ruth Stephan was a distinguished novelist and poet who donated a collection of several hundred books, and a cottage, to the University of Arizona campus in 1960. This modest beginning belied the vision of Mrs Stephan, who continued to generously contribute to building a distinguished collection of poetry that would, in time, gain both national and international significance.