2024 VIPF FEATURED POETS
Featured Poets of the 17th Annual Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival 2023
(Apr. 25- Apr.28, 2024)
Bianca Alyssa Pérez was born and raised in Mission, Texas – a small southern town bordering Mexico. She holds her MFA in Poetry from Texas State University, where she also teaches and coordinates the MFA in Creative Writing program. She was the 2022-2023 Clark House Writer-In-Residence in Smithville, TX. Her chapbook, Gemini Gospel, is published with Host Publications. You can find her writing in Porter House Review, The New York Quarterly, Infrarrealista Review, and other beautiful places. She is also the co-host of the horror podcast, Basement Girls, with writer Steph Grossman. Learn more at biancaalyssaperez.com and follow the chisme on her instagram @biancaperez_poeta
Erika Elisa Garza Tamez is originally from the magic town Cd. Mier, Tamaulipas, México. She holds a Master’s Degree of Arts in Spanish from UTPA with a thesis focusing in creative writing of short stories. Garza is currently a Spanish Dual Instructor for South Texas College. She is proud of inspiring her students to become published authors in publications such as Boundless, Feipol anthologies, and Tierra Firme With over 100 students published and counting. Garza began writing poetry in the form of a song at the age of 11, inspired by Selena’s death. Her poems have been published in numerous anthologies including Resplandores poéticos, FAME RGV, Flora Fiction, FEIPOL Anthology 2018 Edition, Boundless (2019-2024). In 2021, she published her poetry collection Con alas de mariposa. She enjoys being a UIL prose and poetry coach. She is also a nutrition and fitness coach. Furthermore, she promotes Spanish language plays in the Rio Grande Valley.
José Chapa Valle is a US poet raised in Mexico, or vice versa. He authored Notes from the Last Age (FlowerSong Press, 2020) and two other books of poetry. His work in English has appeared in the Acentos Review, Eye to the Telescope, Star*Line and elsewhere. Some of his poetry in Spanish can be found in the digital archives of Luvina, Periódico de Poesía, Caelum, and Tierra Adentro. He lives in Katy, Texas, where he works as a leadership development facilitator, sans degree.