THE BARRIO THROUGH A POETRY LENS

12:00 pm - 12:45 pm
| Location of Session: East Terrace
Adult Sessions

Start of Signing: 1:00 pm
| Signing Location: Festival Marketplace

My Schedule

About the Event

In By Throat, By Miracle: New and Selected Poems, Edward Vidaurre leads a journey of witness to the brutality of barrio life, honors the resilience of his community, and celebrates what it means to be human. Mexican Dinosaur by C.L. “Rooster” Martinez takes on the changing economic demographics of the poet’s San Antonio barrio, and the confusion and desire to flourish within a hyphenated American identity. These poets ask us to contemplate complex personal and cultural identities, to recognize beauty, to revel in our imagination, and to build a better future.

About the Authors

Photo Credit: Courtesy of C.L. “Rooster” Martinez

C.L. “Rooster” Martinez

C.L. “Rooster” Martinez is an educator, writer, and spoken word poet from San Antonio, Texas. He is the author of A Saint for Lost Things and As it is in Heaven. His work has appeared in such publications as Huizache, Voices de la Luna, Write About Now Poetry, Button Poetry, Huffington Post Latino Voices, Acentos Review, and others. He was co-editor on Contra: Texas Poets Speak Out, a poetry anthology, and a writer on the 2016 play, American Pride, which won two ATAC Globe awards for Writing of a Drama and Overall Production of a Drama. Rooster earned a MA/MFA from the Creative Writing, Literature and Social Justice program at Our Lady of the Lake University and teaches English at Palo Alto College in San Antonio, TX. His latest poetry collection is Mexican Dinosaur.

Photo Credit: Lonnie Anderson

Edward Vidaurre

Edward Vidaurre is an award-winning poet and author of nine collections of poetry. He is the 2018–2019 Poet Laureate of McAllen, Texas; a 2022 inductee to the Texas Institute of Letters; and publisher of FlowerSong Press. His writings have appeared in The New York Times, Texas Observer, Los Angeles Review of Books, as well as other journals and anthologies. Vidaurre resides in McAllen, Texas, with his wife, daughter, and foster babies. His latest work is By Throat, By Miracle: New & Selected Poems.

Moderator

Eddie Vega

Eddie Vega (the Taco-Poet of Texas) is a poet, storyteller, and educator. He is the author of Chicharra Chorus (FlowerSong Press, 2019) and Somos Nopales (FlowerSong Press, 2024). His poetry appears along the San Pedro Creek Cultural Park and he edited a collection of poems written by South Texans entitled, Asina is How We Talk. Vega is a Macondo Writers Workshop Fellow and the Poet Laureate of San Antonio for 2024-2027.