An Evening of Poetry with Matthew Tuckner, Jessica Tanck, and Nicholas Pierce

Schedule

Tue, 30 Sep, 2025 at 06:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

2717 Atwood Avenue, Madison, WI, United States, Wisconsin 53704 | Madison, WI

Advertisement
A Room of One's Own is thrilled to welcome three poets to read in the evening of September 30th. In celebration of his new release The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Poet Matthew Tuckner will be joined by fellow poets Jessica Tanck and Nicholas Pierce. Join us for this evening of poetry!
About the book
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is a book-length sequence of 53 poems with identical eponymous titles. Heartbreaking and searingly lucid, this debut collection from poet Matthew Tuckner chronicles his best friend's illness and subsequent death from cancer. Its brilliance is not only in recognizing the vastness and particularity of grief — how the loss of a beloved is so personally all encompassing that it splits time irrevocably, separating our personal history into distinct eras of before and after as the governing principles of our lives crumble — but also in joining the discrete experience of one person's sickness to a carcinogenic imperial core, the late-capitalist global order that ensnares all people in toxic landscapes that make us sick.
Matthew Tuckner received his MFA in Creative Writing at NYU and is currently a PhD student in English/Creative Writing at University of Utah, where he edits Quarterly West. His debut collection of poems, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, is forthcoming from Four Way Books in Fall 2025. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in AGNI, American Poetry Review, Kenyon Review, The Nation, The Adroit Journal, and Best New Poets, among others.
Jessica Tanck is the author of Winter Here (UGA Press, 2024), winner of the 2022 Georgia Poetry Prize. She holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she completed a B.A. in English Literature - Creative Writing and Comparative Literature and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing - Poetry. Her work appears or is forthcoming in The Adroit Journal, Alaska Quarterly Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, Blackbird, Colorado Review, DIAGRAM, Gulf Coast, Kenyon Review, The Los Angeles Review, Meridian, New England Review, New Ohio Review, Ninth Letter, Waxwing, and others. Jess was born in Chicago, IL, but grew up in Sheboygan, WI, on the shores of Lake Michigan.
Nicholas Pierce is the author of In Transit (Criterion Books, 2021), winner of the New Criterion Poetry Prize. His poems have appeared on Best American Poetry’s website and in such journals as 32 Poems, AGNI, The Hopkins Review, Image, Literary Matters, Revel, and Subtropics. He is completing a Ph.D. in Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Utah, where his honors include the Sherman B. Neff Fellowship and the Jeff Metcalf Fellowship in the Humanities.
Advertisement

Where is it happening?

2717 Atwood Avenue, Madison, WI, United States, Wisconsin 53704

Event Location & Nearby Stays:

A Room of One's Own Bookstore

Host or Publisher A Room of One's Own Bookstore

It's more fun with friends. Share with friends

Discover More Events in Madison

Sip to Support - Raise a Glass to Fill a Plate
Tue, 30 Sep at 04:00 pm Sip to Support - Raise a Glass to Fill a Plate

120 E Wilson St, Madison, WI, United States, Wisconsin 53703

NONPROFIT
World Dairy Expo 2025
Tue, 30 Sep at 05:00 pm World Dairy Expo 2025

Alliant Energy Center

BUSINESS EXHIBITIONS
Oktoberfest Week @ Garth's
Tue, 30 Sep at 05:00 pm Oktoberfest Week @ Garth's

1726 Monroe St, Madison, WI, United States, Wisconsin 53711

OKTOBERFEST CONTESTS
In-Person Tagging Party - Learn to Consign Like a Pro
Tue, 30 Sep at 05:15 pm In-Person Tagging Party - Learn to Consign Like a Pro

Fitchburg Community Center

PARTIES ENTERTAINMENT
Tue, 30 Sep at 06:30 pm MADbolic HIIT Workout!!

MADabolic Madison

End(ish) of season potluck!
Tue, 30 Sep at 07:00 pm End(ish) of season potluck!

The Biergarten at Olbrich Park

FOOD-DRINKS POTLUCK
Colter Wall and Friends
Tue, 30 Sep Colter Wall and Friends

Orpheum Theater

MUSIC
Colter Wall at Orpheum Theatre - Madison
Tue, 30 Sep at 07:30 pm Colter Wall at Orpheum Theatre - Madison

Orpheum Theatre - Madison

ART THEATRE
The Joint Custody Stand-up Comedy Open Mic
Sun, 13 Jul The Joint Custody Stand-up Comedy Open Mic

Dank of America

COMEDY ENTERTAINMENT
Open Mic at James Reeb
Sat, 06 Sep at 06:00 pm Open Mic at James Reeb

2146 E Johnson St, Madison, WI, United States, Wisconsin 53704

OPEN-MIC NONPROFIT
Madison Moth StorySlam: THEMELESS
Mon, 08 Sep at 07:30 pm Madison Moth StorySlam: THEMELESS

High Noon Saloon

CONTESTS OPEN-MIC
Stand-up Open Mic
Tue, 09 Sep at 07:00 pm Stand-up Open Mic

North of the Bayou

OPEN-MIC COMEDY
The Argus Underground - Open mic comedy
Tue, 09 Sep The Argus Underground - Open mic comedy

Argus BarGrille

OPEN-MIC COMEDY
The Revolver at Rigby - Open mic comedy
Thu, 11 Sep The Revolver at Rigby - Open mic comedy

The Rigby Pub, Grill, and Event Venue

COMEDY ENTERTAINMENT
Haunted Like Human w\/ Becca Murray at Cargo Coffee East
Fri, 12 Sep at 06:30 pm Haunted Like Human w/ Becca Murray at Cargo Coffee East

Cargo Coffee East

MUSIC ART
Classical Guitar Showcase
Fri, 12 Sep at 07:00 pm Classical Guitar Showcase

Lakeside St Coffee House

MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Peretsky \/\/ Desert Liminal \/\/ Wooden Ducks @ Communication
Sun, 14 Sep at 07:00 pm Peretsky // Desert Liminal // Wooden Ducks @ Communication

1741 Commercial Ave, Madison, WI, United States, Wisconsin 53704

ENTERTAINMENT MUSIC
Music Open Mic
Mon, 15 Sep at 06:00 pm Music Open Mic

167 E Badger Rd , Madison, WI, United States, Wisconsin 53713

OPEN-MIC LIVE-MUSIC
Planetaria: Visual Poetry and the Asian-American Avant Garde
Thu, 18 Sep at 07:00 pm Planetaria: Visual Poetry and the Asian-American Avant Garde

Arts + Literature Laboratory

ART LITERARY-ART
\ud83c\udfb6\u2764\ufe0f Dances of Universal Peace \u2764\ufe0f\ud83c\udfb6
Fri, 19 Sep at 07:00 pm 🎶❤️ Dances of Universal Peace ❤️🎶

Unity of Madison, 601 Tompkins Dr, Madison, WI 53716

MUSIC ART

What's Happening Next in Madison?

Discover Madison Events