Public Poetry exists to bring together the public and the poetry community, and to create a buzz about poetry. Join us for a free poetry reading series presented on the first Saturday of each month.
These interactive poetry events will feature local and visiting poets, and the occasional local celebrity or public figure. Poets will be available for Q&A and book signing at the end of each program.
The series is a partnership between Public Poetry and Houston Public Library.
Spring Series | Jungman Neighborhood Library
Saturday, May 5 | 2 PM
Eric Ekstrand lives in Houston and teaches writing and literature at University of Houston. His poems can be found in Poetry, jubilat, Black Warrior Review, Indiana Review, New South, Bat City Review and elsewhere. He is a 2009 Ruth Lilly Fellow and a former Inprint/Brown fellow in poetry. He is a former poetry editor for Gulf Coast and works with Writers in the Schools Houston. His full-length collection Lawn Games was a finalist last year for the National Poetry Series and was a semi-finalist for the Brittingham and Pollak prizes.
Jasminne Mendez is a performance poet, actress, teacher and published writer. She has performed her poetry in venues all around Houston including the MFAH, Rice and the Alley Theatre. She has shared the stage with respected writers and poets including Sandra Cisneros and Taylor Mali. She has been published both nationally and internationally by Arte Público Press and Flash: The International Short Story Magazine in England.
John Pluecker is a writer, interpreter, agitator and translator. His work is informed by experimental poetics, interdisciplines and cross-border cultural production; writings have appeared in the Rio Grande Review, Picnic, Third Text, Animal Shelter, HTMLGiant, Literal and other outlets. He has published more than six books in translation from the Spanish and three chapbooks translated from daily life, history and/or rivers: Routes into Texas (DIY, 2010), Undone (Dusie Kollektiv, 2011) and Killing Current (Mouthfeel Press, 2012).
Robin Reagler is the Executive Director of Writers in the Schools (WITS) and the leader of the national Writers in the Schools Alliance. She has an M.F.A. from the Iowa Writers Workshop and a Ph.D. from the University of Houston’s Creative Writing Program. Her poetry chapbook Dear Red Airplane was recently published by Seven Kitchens Press.
And there’s more! You can hear these poets again with new poetry in our Fall Series at Henington-Alief Regional Library, on Saturday, November 3, 2012 at 2 PM.