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Poetry Comes in All Shapes & Forms.

What is up, MI GENTE!?!!?  ​

​So far, so good. - From last week to this week, its been a great time to be involved in writing and poetry. I discover new stuff all the time and so, I hope to share that with you here. - Thank you, Obrigado, Mil Gracias to A. Raa - for the comment. I replied back. (YEA!!! - at least one person reads this thing!!! :) )

​Let's get the things going. 

THE TEASE: 

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The VALLEY INTERNATIONAL POETRY FESTIVAL - ​

​NOW in its 6th year- the Rio Grande Valley (the RGV) plays host to a spectacular weekend of poetry, literary celebration and homage to the written word. The organizers, Daniel Garcia Ordaz and Brenda Nettles Riojas, the actual founders have done an amazing thing by creating this event. They have worked in as many different facets to include registered poet, the community at large, fans of poetry, professors, college students, teachers and kids - hell, they have even managed to host a poetry reading across the border. This will be my first time at the festival and I am completely giddy in anticipation for this event. I have been given a sort of run down of the events for the weekend- and I am sworn to secrecy until we get closer to the date, so stay tuned. 

These are the details as I know them so far: 

​Date: 
​April 25th  - 28th, 2013
​Location:
​All across the RGV

​If you want a bit more information, including locations and bios on featured and registered poets, then take a look at the festival site, here.

The organizers have even put together an annual anthology for the event itself - BOUNDLESS. Then, on top of that, they also end the entire event with a Sunday visit to the gravesite of Gloria Anzaldúa, who was a Rio Grande Valley Native  So, if you have time, ​take a trip to the valley and check it. 

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AND NOW... a NEW DISCOVERY!!  (not really that I discovered..but)

So I noticed on a friend's Facebook post, they had a link to an audio recording of Gloria Anzaldúa (Thanks Georgina!!), and so I took a look-see and liked it. I decided to take a further look and you know what, the Univ. of Arizona's Poetry Center has an impressive collection of audio and visual recordings of poetry and poets. You should check it out! ​

I have included a few of them:

A 1977 reading from Phillip Levine (it goes into the intro first, then flips to the next audio file) 

A 1993 reading from Benjamin Alire Saenz

A 2011 reading by Kazim Ali

​A 1991 reading by Gloria E. Anzaldúa

Really pretty awesome stuff and very easy to sign up for!!  Enjoy!!  here is the link to sign up:
​University of Arizona Poetry Center

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YOU SHOULD TRY TO MAKE IT TO THIS SHOW!!!

​a dear friend, OUTSPOKEN BEAN - (go to my links and check his site out!!)​ is up and running with his one man show. Here are the details: 

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Outspoken Bean is a tremendously talented spoken word artist and writer. So try to make it to his show!!  I will be there on Sunday, - so hope to see you there. ​

Here are the details:

Date & Time :  Saturday, April 20th - 8pm
​                         Sunday, April 21st - 3pm

​Price:  All tickets pre-sale, $12 - at the Door - $15
​​Where: Freneticore Theatre - 5102 Navigation Blvd. , Houston, TX

​See you there!!

​GET READY!!​

​If you remember last week, we talked a little bit about the WORD AROUND TOWN POETRY TOUR. If you are just joining the blog, no worries, just click on the title and it will take you to the site. SO, now we are ready and waiting, hoping we get as many poets to participate in the POET DRAFT for the WAT tour. This year, we have selected 9 poets (a hard decision to make, might I add) to rejoin the tour, leaving 7 spots open to be filled by newer poets (new to the tour that is).  Last year, we had the event at Khan's Wine bar in mid-town, but this year, we felt we needed a little more elbow room. - This year, we will bring the POET DRAFT to TAFT STREET COFFEE HOUSE - one of the original venues for the tour!!  Taft St. has always had a long running open mic on Tuesdays, and its gone through its share of hosts (many thanks to Millie Fiori, Joey, and  Jessie for all your hard work in running that open mic in the past!!) and so on April 30th, we will take over the night and run the draft. ALL POETS ARE WELCOME TO COMPETE FOR A SPOT ON THE TOUR!!  (unless you are already selected, you can come and support!!) 

​Make sure you bring one poem to read in front of the judges. Make it a good one. 
​Here are the details for that night- 
​Where: 
Taft Street Coffee House
2115 Taft St, Houston, TX 77006

Time:
​8 pm

​Contact: 
​713.522.3533

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Bueno, con eso, se acabo la bloga por hoy. But, I will leave you with a tease:

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