Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival Apr. 23-26, 2026

VIPF 2026: The Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival

The Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival, established in 2008, is a four-day poetry festival in deep South Texas held concurrently in two countries on the last full weekend in April. You don't need to register in order to submit to our anthology, Boundless. We feed you dinner on Saturday night as part of the Poetry Pachanga--the event that started it all. V.I.P.F. is a program of 
Art That Heals, Inc., and  El Zarape Press, with sponsorship from by Creative Alignment Consulting and the McAllen Chamber of Commerce and welcomes poets from around the world.

Erika Said Izaguirre. Multi-genre writer and educator, with a MA in Spanish and a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Houston. Author of “iPoems: Poemas en Shuffle”, “Postcards from the Border”, “Del otro lado hay luces neón” and bilingual children’s books with Arte Público Press. In 2025 she received a Houston Arts Alliance grant to support her first novel. Both her academic and creative work weave literature and social matters, celebrating brown voices and honoring feminist legacies.

Edward Vidaurre is the author of ten collections of poetry. Vidaurre’s poems have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Avalon Literary Review, The Acentos Review, Poetrybay, as well as other journals and anthologies. He is the 2018-2019 City of McAllen, TX Poet Laureate and publisher of FlowerSong Press and its sister imprint Juventud Press. He has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize five times and was a finalist for the state of Texas Poet Laureate. Vidaurre has been a judge for submissions for the Houston Poetry Festival, Director of Operations for the Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival, and editor of Cutthroat, a journal of the arts. His book Jazzhouse Won the Award of Merit 2020 by The Philosophical Society of Texas for Best Book of Poetry by a Texas Author. His book Pandemia & Other Poems was a finalist for the Writers' League of Texas Book Awards.

 

Boundless 2026 the Anthology of the Valley International Poetry Festival

Call for VIPF 2026 Submissions Has Opened
Boundless: The Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival Anthology 2026 is now accepting submissions!

Youth Section Submissions Welcome from High School Students--Same Guidelines (Bio must denote Youth Submission)!


Deadline: E-mailed by Dec. 31, 2025 @ midnight.
Submissions: E-mail Submissions Only: BoundlessAnthology@gmail.com

Boundless will be published as a perfect bound edition with an ISBN and will be available at flowersongpress.com, valleypoetryfest.org and wherever books are sold.

As always, poets do not have to attend our festival or register for our festival in order to submit for publication. Poets will be able to purchase a copy of Boundless 2026 at a discounted price.

Previous editions include poets from across the U.S., Africa, Albania, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Mexico, Portugal, South America, Central America, Spain, and England.

Be part of this exciting edition!

GUIDELINES: 

Submit up to three typewritten poems in a legible font. 
Poems may be of any topic, any style

Poems may be any language. (We ask for a translation if it is not in English or Spanish)
Strict 30-line limit per poem, not including title and spaces.
Only E-mailed Submissions accepted. Submissions shipped by mail Will NOT Be Accepted! 
E-mail submissions to BoundlessAnthology@gmail.com
No previously published poems--or translations of previously published poems--please, except from self-published chapbooks with limited distribution or Featured Poets. 
DO NOT place your name or other identifying information on the poem itself. 
Submit ONE e-mail with ONE attachment. Do not e-mail two separate attachments

The cover letter as the message of the e-mail must include:
Your Name as you wish for it to be published.
Title of poems or first line for an untitled poem
E-mail address AND phone number
A short bio – 50 words or less – written in third person




We strongly prefer to communicate by e-mail: BoundlessAnthology@gmail.com
If you change your e-mail, let us know immediately. 




A limited number of perfect-bound copies of the anthology will be available for purchase at the anthology release event and potentially thereafter. First copy for poets whose poetry is accepted: $10 (while supplies last.) All other copies, $18.





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¡Ya abrió la convocatoria del VIPF 2026!

¡Ya está abierta la convocatoria del Festival Internacional de Poesía del Valle del Río Grande 2026! (Cierra el 31 de diciembre)

¡Estamos aceptando trabajos para la antología Boundless: The Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival Anthology 2026!

¡También aceptamos obras de alumnos de preparatoria (aprox. 14-18 años), sujetos a las mismas bases!

PLAZO: Envió por correo electrónico antes de las 23:59 h del 31 de diciembre de 2025

ENVÍO: Sólo en forma digital, dirigido a BoundlessAnthology@gmail.com


Boundless tendrá ISBN, se editará en encuadernación sin costura y estará disponible en flowersongpress.com, amazon.com y librerías. 


Como de costumbre, los poetas podrán enviar sus obras sin necesidad de asistir o inscribirse en el festival. Debido a que ya no cobramos por la recepción de obras, los poetas podrán comprar un ejemplar de 2025 a precio de descuento.


En ediciones anteriores hemos contado con poetas de todo Estados Unidos y de África, América del Sur, Albania, Australia, Bangladesh, Brasil, España, India, Inglaterra, Irán, Israel, México y Portugal. ¡Te invitamos a formar parte de esta excelente edición!

BASES: 

  • Cada poeta podrá enviar hasta tres trabajos, mecanografiados en una fuente tipográfica legible.

  • La temática y el estilo de los poemas es libre.

  • Las obras pueden presentarse en cualquier idioma, incluso en español.

  • La extensión máxima será de 30 versos por poema.

  • Sólo se aceptarán envíos electrónicos. NO consideraremos ninguna obra enviada por correo regular. Los trabajos deben ser dirigidos a BoundlessAnthology@gmail.com.

  • Las obras deben ser inéditas, tanto en su idioma original como en la traducción, pero consideraremos poemas que hayan aparecido en plaquettes (folletos) de autor con distribución limitada.

  • El poema en sí NO incluirá el nombre del autor ni ningún otro dato personal.

  • Los participantes deberán enviar UN correo con UN adjunto. ¡No se debe mandar dos adjuntos distintos!

  • En el cuerpo del mail, que será la carta de presentación, deberá incluirse lo siguiente:

  • El nombre del poeta tal y como desea que sea publicado

  • El título de los poemas o el primer verso, si se tratare de un poema sin título

  • Dirección de correo electrónico 

  • Número de teléfono

  • Una breve reseña biográfica —máximo 50 palabras— escrita en tercera persona y que se concentre en aspectos literarios. (En el caso de los poetas de la preparatoria, la biografía deberá indicar que se trata de un «Envío Juvenil».)

Tenemos una marcada preferencia por la comunicación electrónica a través de BoundlessAnthology@gmail.com. Si el poeta cambia de dirección electrónica, deberá comunicarlo de inmediato a los organizadores.