Sponsored by
City of San Benito * El Zarape Press * Narciso Martinez Cultural Arts Center
~Rio Grande Valley international Poetry Festial: Established 2008~
"Let the plethora of words commence!"
Founded by Daniel Garcia Ordaz and Brenda Nettles Riojas Sponsored by Narciso Martinez Cultural Arts Center, the City of San Benito, McAllen Chamber of Commerce, El Peregrino Magazine, and El Zarape Press.
Phone: (956) 358-7211
Celebrate National Poetry Month . . .
WHAT: "Valley International Poetry Festival & 2nd Annual Poetry Pachanga"
SEE FULL SCHEDULE BELOW!!
WHEN: April 24, 25, 26, 27, 2008
WHERE: Rio Grande Valley of South Texas
ADDRESS: Headquarters: Narciso Martinez Cultural Arts Center--225 E. Stenger St., San Benito, Texas
TIME: Event times will vary throughout the weekend.
FYI: Most or all events will be Free and open to the public. Books, Chapbooks, CDs, T-shirts, etc., for sale.
Contact: Daniel García Ordaz, Founder, @ 956-358-7211
POETS, CLICK HERE FOR LATE REGISTRATION( LATE Registration is now available until Apr. 21, 2008
VIPF plans to offer:
View Poetry Pachanga Guestbook
Sign Poetry Pachanga Guestbook
THE 2ND ANNUAL POETRY PACHANGA IS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Saturday, Apr. 26
2nd Annual Poetry Pachanga
7 to 11 p.m.
San Benito Community Center: 210 E. Heywood St., San Benito
Notes: Witness history as we bring together the registered poets of the inaugural VIPF for the 2nd Annual Poetry Pachanga--a plethora of poets on one stage! The public is invited to mingle with the poets, buy t-shirts, books, CDS, and listen to the poetry readings.
The 2008 2nd Annual Poetry Pachanga list is forthcoming: late Registration ends on April 20. (see above.)
2007 Poetry Pachanga Featured Poets: (Click on the repsective poet's name to learn more about him or her. Teachers: invite poets to read at your campus.) See related links
[Daniel García Ordaz], a.k.a. "The Poet Mariachi"
[Rudy García]
[La Erika Garza-Johnson
[Rodney Gomez]
[Jesse Herrera]
[Meliton Hinojosa]
[Kate Lohnes]
[Lady Mariposa]
[Noemi Martinez]
[Brenda Nettles Riojas]
[Emmy Pérez]
[Kamala Platt]
[José Antonio Rodriguez]
[Airlie Sattler Rose]
[Dr. Steven Schneider]
[Lina Suarez]
[Ken Treviño]
Daniel García Ordaz (Mission)
Daniel García Ordaz, a.k.a. The Poet Mariachi, is an unfrozen caveman English teacher at McAllen Memorial High School and the author of You Know What I'm Sayin'? from El Zarape Press. He is a former journalist and is also a founder of Art That Heals, Inc. He "just may be the voice of the Rio Grande Valley" (The Monitor 2/2/2007.) Come see "the most dangerous poet south of the chorizo plant in San Manuel!"
[Rudy H. García] [La Erika Garza-Johnson [Rodney Gomez] [Jesse Herrera] [Meliton Hinojosa] [Kate Lohnes] [Lady Mariposa] [Noemi Martinez] [Brenda Nettles Riojas] [Emmy Pérez] [Kamala Platt] [José Antonio Rodriguez] [Airlie Sattler Rose] [Dr. Steven Schneider] [Lina Suarez] [Ken Treviño]
Rudy H. García (Port Isabel)
Rudy H. García, from Port Isabel, Texas, has a Master's in Education from the University of Texas at Brownsville and earned a B.A. in psychology from Pan American University in 1976. He is a participant in the Narciso Martínez Cultural Arts Center Writers’ Forum, and is a founder of the Laguna Madre Writers Forum. Rudy has also being featured on the radio program “Themes and Variations.” His poems are published with “Poets of the East Village” in New York and he has been a featured reader for the El Paseo Arts Foundation and is published in numerous other magazines.
[La Erika Garza-Johnson [Rodney Gomez] [Jesse Herrera] [Meliton Hinojosa] [Kate Lohnes] [Lady Mariposa] [Noemi Martinez] [Brenda Nettles Riojas] [Emmy Pérez] [Kamala Platt] [José Antonio Rodriguez] [Airlie Sattler Rose] [Dr. Steven Schneider] [Lina Suarez] [Ken Treviño] [Daniel García Ordaz]
La Erika Garza-Johnson (McAllen)
La Erika is currently a full-time mom with a million baby poems in her head waiting to be born. Constantly cleaning up after a one year old and three men, she finds that the poems either die or are born with missing limbs. Strolling her baby early in the morning, befriending neighborhood cats and parrots in palm trees, she finds poems in the grass, in the alley, hears them buzzing in the weed eaters. But comes home and naps. Dreams another poem and wakes up.
In the fall she will be attending UTPA where she will try to accomplish greatness. Meanwhile, she must go back to the baby who is trying to eat dirt outside.
[Rodney Gomez] [Jesse Herrera] [Meliton Hinojosa] [Kate Lohnes] [Lady Mariposa] [Noemi Martinez] [Brenda Nettles Riojas] [Emmy Pérez] [Kamala Platt] [José Antonio Rodriguez] [Airlie Sattler Rose] [Dr. Steven Schneider] [Lina Suarez] [Ken Treviño] [Daniel García Ordaz] [Rudy García]
Rodney Gomez (Brownsville)
Rodney Gomez studied philosophy at Yale, Arizona State, and Rice. He currently works as a public transit manager in Brownsville, Texas. His poems are forthcoming in Flint Hills Review, Epicenter, The Marlboro Review, KNOCK, Red Rock Review, and other journals.
[Jesse Herrera]
[Meliton Hinojosa]
[Kate Lohnes]
[Lady Mariposa]
[Noemi Martinez]
[Brenda Nettles Riojas]
[Emmy Pérez]
[Kamala Platt]
[José Antonio Rodriguez]
[Airlie Sattler Rose]
[Dr. Steven Schneider]
[Lina Suarez]
[Ken Treviño]
[Daniel García Ordaz]
[Rudy García]
[La Erika Garza-Johnson
[Top] [Links]
Jesse Herrera (Laredo)
I think I'm better at writing poems than I am about writing my bio: "Some call me a poet. Some call me the dude, but I have always been Jesse G. Herrera." I was born April 10, 1953 (DAMN) in San Antonio, Texas in a real hospital with nurses and doctors and everything. We moved permanently to Laredo, Texas when I was in 6th grade. My real job is driving an 18 wheeler for UPS between Laredo and San Antonio. I'm starting my 30th this year. That might be my real job but my real passion is the smell of black sod that has been plowed up, women in Medusa jeans and wondering what it all means, but then it doesn't really matter. Just write the poem. Shoot the picture. I wrote my first poem in April '98 while taking a creative writing class with Professor "Chainsaw" Randy Koch. What a great mentor and precise dude as if he was a Tomahawk Cruise Missile with a red Sharpie. If Mr. Koch was the academic dude, Trino, Trinidad Sanchez Jr. was humbly the "been there done that" type of dude. As my mentor, I listened to what Trino had to say. Trino could do workshops with children and adults. I can still see him giving out his certificates to people. He recognized everyone.
[Meliton Hinojosa] [Kate Lohnes] [Lady Mariposa] [Noemi Martinez] [Brenda Nettles Riojas] [Emmy Pérez] [Kamala Platt] [José Antonio Rodriguez] [Airlie Sattler Rose] [Dr. Steven Schneider] [Lina Suarez] [Ken Treviño] [Daniel García Ordaz] [Rudy García] [La Erika Garza-Johnson [Rodney Gomez]
Meliton Hinojosa (Harlingen)
Meliton Hijojosa, Jr. has a BA and an MA in education from Texas A & M-Corpus Christi. He teaches automotive mechanics at San Benito High School. He was born in El Sauz, Texas to Meliton Hinojosa and Guadalupe Hinojosa in 1948. He and his family migrated in the 1960's to California to pick grapes and do other type of field work.
[Kate Lohnes] [Lady Mariposa] [Noemi Martinez] [Brenda Nettles Riojas] [Emmy Pérez] [Kamala Platt] [José Antonio Rodriguez] [Airlie Sattler Rose] [Dr. Steven Schneider] [Lina Suarez] [Ken Treviño] [Daniel García Ordaz] [Rudy García] [La Erika Garza-Johnson [Rodney Gomez] [Jesse Herrera] [Top] [Links]
Kate Lohnes (Springfield,Oh./McAllen)
Kate Lohnes has been a proud resident of the Rio Grande Valley since August 2005. When she's not covering arts and entertainment news for The Monitor, Kate enjoys reading, creative writing, ice fishing, spelunking and drinking good margaritas. She's also a fan of breakfast cereal: her favorite is Cinammon Toast Crunch.
[Lady Mariposa] [Noemi Martinez] [Brenda Nettles Riojas] [Emmy Pérez] [Kamala Platt] [José Antonio Rodriguez] [Airlie Sattler Rose] [Dr. Steven Schneider] [Lina Suarez] [Ken Treviño] [Daniel García Ordaz] [Rudy García] [La Erika Garza-Johnson [Rodney Gomez] [Jesse Herrera] [Meliton Hinojosa]
Lady Mariposa (Sullivan City)
Lady Mariposa is a poet. Lady Mariposa is a student. Lady Mariposa is a wife. Lady Mariposa is silent Jazz woven into snippets of history, God and empty houses. . . Lady Mariposa is Veronica Sandoval, a street smart poet, preacher’s kid from Sullivan City, former old school chola and new Americana poet. As rhythmic and addictive as a glass of wine and a blank computer screen, Lady Mariposa invites you to throw down your analytical pen and let life seep in . . .
Visit me on MySpace or call 956-341-1711 for booking information.
[Noemi Martinez] [Brenda Nettles Riojas] [Emmy Pérez] [Kamala Platt] [José Antonio Rodriguez] [Airlie Sattler Rose] [Dr. Steven Schneider] [Lina Suarez] [Ken Treviño] [Daniel García Ordaz] [Rudy García] [La Erika Garza-Johnson [Rodney Gomez] [Jesse Herrera] [Meliton Hinojosa] [Kate Lohnes]
Noemi Martinez (Edinburg)
Noemi Martinez is a community activist, poet, writer and single mother. Noemi has created the Voices Against Violence project; MujerFest--a festival for women to come together and celebrate with poetry, music, classes and workshops; Café Revolución (community activists for equality) a traveling cafe that sheds light on different topics throughout the community such as domestic violence, GLTB&Q issues, human rights, border violence, sexism, and racism. She presently works with Texas RioGrande Legal Aid as their Human Trafficking Outreach Coordinator and previously worked with the VAWA progam at Texas Civil Rights Project. She has been writing the zine Hermana, Resist for the past seven years and is the unofficial "zine queen".
[Brenda Nettles Riojas] [Emmy Pérez] [Kamala Platt] [José Antonio Rodriguez] [Airlie Sattler Rose] [Dr. Steven Schneider] [Lina Suarez] [Ken Treviño] [Daniel García Ordaz] [Rudy García] [La Erika Garza-Johnson [Rodney Gomez] [Jesse Herrera] [Meliton Hinojosa] [Kate Lohnes] [Lady Mariposa]
Brenda Nettles Riojas (Harlingen)
The pilgrim poet, Brenda Nettles Riojas, is a mother, writer, and creative spirit, who grew up on the border of South Texas and Mexico. Brenda's itinerant tendencies keep her in route to different destinations, exploring the world and capturing some of these experiences in her poetry. She is currently the editor of a new quarterly magazine, El Peregrino. She is also pursing a M.F.A. in creative writing. She authored a book about the history of the Catholic Church in the Rio Grande Valley, and has presented nationally on the subject of creativity.
[Emmy Pérez]
[Kamala Platt]
[José Antonio Rodriguez]
[Airlie Sattler Rose]
[Dr. Steven Schneider]
[Lina Suarez]
[Ken Treviño]
[Daniel García Ordaz]
[Rudy García]
[La Erika Garza-Johnson
[Rodney Gomez]
[Jesse Herrera]
[Meliton Hinojosa]
[Kate Lohnes]
[Lady Mariposa]
[Noemi Martinez]
Emmy Pérez (Santa Ana, California/McAllen)
Emmy Pérez, originally from Southern California, is the author of Solstice (Swan Scythe Press 2003). Her poems have appeared in Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, Notre Dame Review, Prairie Schooner, North American Review, The Wind Shifts: The New Latino Poetry (University of Arizona Press 2007), and other publications. A member of the Women Writers’ Collective, she founded a Poetry Project for incarcerated youth in El Paso and has taught writing to incarcerated women and young adults in the Southwest. Currently, she is an assistant professor of English and creative writing at the University of Texas-Pan American.
[Kamala Platt] [José Antonio Rodriguez] [Airlie Sattler Rose] [Dr. Steven Schneider] [Lina Suarez] [Ken Treviño] [Daniel García Ordaz] [Rudy García] [La Erika Garza-Johnson [Rodney Gomez] [Jesse Herrera] [Meliton Hinojosa] [Kate Lohnes] [Lady Mariposa] [Noemi Martinez] [Brenda Nettles Riojas]
Dr. Kamala Platt (Edinburg)
Kamala Platt is a poet, activist, and comparative literature scholar, presently teaching at UT-Pan American. She earned a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of Texas, Austin. Kamala creates her own visual, performance and written works, and supports grassroots activism toward environmental, gender and racial justice. She also spends summers in Kansas, working with The Meadowlark Center, an alternative, arts, education, environmental and social justice center.
[José Antonio Rodriguez] [Airlie Sattler Rose] [Dr. Steven Schneider] [Lina Suarez] [Ken Treviño] [Daniel García Ordaz] [Rudy García] [La Erika Garza-Johnson [Rodney Gomez] [Jesse Herrera] [Meliton Hinojosa] [Kate Lohnes] [Lady Mariposa] [Noemi Martinez] [Brenda Nettles Riojas]
José Antonio Rodriguez (México/Rio Grande Valley)
José Antonio Rodriguez was born in México and raised in the Rio Grande Valley. He is currently a lecturer in the English department of the University of Texas-Pan American. He has poems forthcoming in BorderSenses and Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review.
[Airlie Sattler Rose]
[Dr. Steven Schneider]
[Lina Suarez]
[Ken Treviño]
[Daniel García Ordaz]
[Rudy García]
[La Erika Garza-Johnson
[Rodney Gomez]
[Jesse Herrera]
[Meliton Hinojosa]
[Kate Lohnes]
[Lady Mariposa]
[Noemi Martinez]
[Brenda Nettles Riojas]
[Emmy Pérez]
[Kamala Platt]
[Top] [Links]
Airlie Sattler Rose (Durham, N.C./Rio Grande Valley)
Airlie Sattler Rose is currently acclimating to life in The Valley while looking after her two young children. In a previous life, she was a writing tutor and instructor at Duke University in Durham, NC. Other hats she wears on occasion include: Quaker, biologist, activist, and poet.
[Dr. Steven Schneider]
[Lina Suarez]
[Ken Treviño]
[Daniel García Ordaz]
[Rudy García]
[La Erika Garza-Johnson
[Rodney Gomez]
[Jesse Herrera]
[Meliton Hinojosa]
[Kate Lohnes]
[Lady Mariposa]
[Noemi Martinez]
[Brenda Nettles Riojas]
[Emmy Pérez]
[Kamala Platt]
[José Antonio Rodriguez]
Dr. Steven P. Schneider (Edinburg)
Steven P. Schneider is the author of Prairie Air Show (2000, Hurakan Press), A.R. Ammons and the Poetics of Widening Scope (1994, Farleigh Dickinson University Press), and he is the editor of Complexities of Motion: New Essays on A.R. Ammons’s Long Poems (1999, Farleigh Dickinson University Press). He is the Chair of the Department of English at UTPA.
[Lina Suarez] [Ken Treviño] [Daniel García Ordaz] [Rudy García] [La Erika Garza-Johnson [Rodney Gomez] [Jesse Herrera] [Meliton Hinojosa] [Kate Lohnes] [Lady Mariposa] [Noemi Martinez] [Brenda Nettles Riojas] [Emmy Pérez] [Kamala Platt] [José Antonio Rodriguez] [Airlie Sattler Rose]
Lina Suarez (McAllen)
Lina Suarez is a writer and poet. She's the author of Hija of the Valley and Mestiza Grill, and holds the current MexiCasa Writing Fellowship. A native of McAllen, her goals are to promote the legacy of Gloria Evangelina Anzaldúa - internationally recognized and admired chicana feminist, poet, writer, activist and cultural theorist who passed away on May 15, 2004 and was born and raised in the RGV. Currently, she is collaborating with Café Revolucion—particularly with the organization's founder, Noemi Mtz.—on establishing the Gloria Anzaldúa Legacy Project.
[Ken Treviño] [Daniel García Ordaz] [Rudy García] [La Erika Garza-Johnson [Rodney Gomez] [Jesse Herrera] [Meliton Hinojosa] [Kate Lohnes] [Lady Mariposa] [Noemi Martinez] [Brenda Nettles Riojas] [Emmy Pérez] [Kamala Platt] [José Antonio Rodriguez] [Airlie Sattler Rose] [Dr. Steven Schneider]
Ken Treviño (Harlingen/Port Isabel)
Ken Treviño is a 43-year-old husband and father, originally from Harlingen, Texas. He grew up loving and enjoying the Port Isabel atmosphere where he enjoys surfing and fishing. He has a Bachelor of Arts in English, with a Spanish minor, from Incarnate Word College in San Antonio, as well as an Associate Degree in Behavioral Sciences from San Antonio College. He has written a variety of plays, songs, and poems which have been performed at different venues and is a member (and co-founder) of the Laguna Madre Writers' Forum, a member of the Narciso Martínez Cultural Arts Center Writers’ Forum, and a Port Isabel High School English teacher.
[Daniel García Ordaz] [Rudy García] [La Erika Garza-Johnson [Rodney Gomez] [Jesse Herrera] [Meliton Hinojosa] [Kate Lohnes] [Lady Mariposa] [Noemi Martinez] [Brenda Nettles Riojas] [Emmy Pérez] [Kamala Platt] [José Antonio Rodriguez] [Airlie Sattler Rose] [Dr. Steven Schneider] [Lina Suarez]