Voices in Verse – A Virtual Writing Conference.
Harness your voice and make 2021 the year of your creative metamorphosis. Join us on Zoom at 9am on Saturday, February 27th for a day filled with writing and reflection with some of Texas’ most awarded writers.
Voices in Verse is a Virtual Writing Conference designed for Veterans, but open to anyone interested in writing. It is hosted by Art Spark Texas, in partnership with the Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival.
Check out the schedule and register through Eventbrite. Registration will be available through February 21 to allow for accommodation requests. This event will be presented on Zoom and tickets are donation based. Your donation helps support this and future programming. If a donation is a barrier for you to attend, use Promo Code FREE at checkout.
We have the following talented writers leading hands-on virtual sessions from 9 am to 4 pm.
Host and Emcee
Daniel García Ordaz, a.k.a. The Poet Mariachi, a Texas-based teacher and author from McAllen, is an established voice in Latino and Mexican American poetry. His work has been taught and written about by academics across the U.S. and abroad and he is a 2018 Pushcart Prize nominee. García has an MFA in Creative Writing from The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. He is also a singer/songwriter, former journalist, photographicationisticator, and word-maker-upper. García appears in the documentary, “ALTAR: Cruzando fronteras/Building bridges.” He is the founder of the Rio Grande Valley Int’l. Poetry Festival. García served in the U.S. Navy as a Hospital Corpsman. His individual book titles include the #1 bestseller books and ebook You Know What I’m Sayin’? and Centzontle/Mockingbird: Songs of Empowerment (and its YA version), as well as the #1 bestseller ebook Pet Names. He’s presently at work on a children’s poetry manuscript. García’s work has appeared in several journals and anthologies.
https://www.pw.org/directory/writers/daniel_garcia_ordaz
Read more about Daniel as our featured Artist of the Month in October 2020.
Presenter Bios
Edward Vidaurre’s writings have appeared or are forthcoming in the following: The New York Times Magazine, The Texas Observer, Grist, Poet Lore, The Acentos Review, Poetrybay, Voices de la Luna, as well as other journals and anthologies. Vidaurre has been a judge for submissions for the Houston Poetry Festival, editor for the Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival anthology Boundless 2020, and editor of Cutthroat, a journal of the arts. Vidaurre is the author of six collections of poetry with Pandemia and Other Poems, forthcoming from Aztlan Libre Press. He is the 2018-2019 City of McAllen,TX Poet Laureate, a four time Pushcart Prize nominated poet and publisher of FlowerSong Press and its sister imprint Juventud Press. Vidaurre is from Boyle Heights, CA and now resides in McAllen, TX with his wife and daughter.
https://www.amazon.com/Edward-Vidaurre/e/B00E6KNJLC%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share
Nathan Brown, the 2013/2014 Poet Laureate of Oklahoma is an author, songwriter, and award-winning poet living in Wimberley, Texas. He holds a PhD in English and Journalism from the University of Oklahoma where he’s taught for over 20 years. He travels full-time performing readings, concerts, workshops and speaking on creativity, poetry, and songwriting. Nathan has published over 20 books.
https://www.brownlines.com/
Emmy Pérez, Texas Poet Laureate 2020, has lived in the Texas borderlands for the past 20 years, the first six in El Paso where she still has family roots after moving to McAllen, where she currently lives. She is the author of the poetry collections With the River on Our Face (University of Arizona Press) and Solstice (Swan Scythe Press). A volume of her new and selected poems is forthcoming from TCU Press.
http://emmyperez.com/
Andrea “Vocab” Sanderson, the 2020-2023 San Antonio, Texas Poet Laureate teaches poetry workshops, mentors, builds up and encourages artists to pursue their art, and gives them platforms to showcase their talent. Her debut book, entitled She Lives in Music, published on Flower Song Press, was released on Valentine’s Day 2020. Her album She Tastes Like Music, is available on all music streaming platforms.
https://andreavocabsanderson.com/
We hope to see you at this event!
For questions, please contact April Sullivan at [email protected]
This event is sponsored in conjunction with the Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival and El Zarape Press, and made possible, in part, by the Academy of American Poets with funds from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation Enhanced Impact Quality of Life funding.
