Meet The Poets of the 19th Annual Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival VIPF 2026

Selected & Edited by

Edward Vidaurre, & Erika Said Izaguirre

Celebrating Poetry Across the World!

We are proud to present an extraordinary new anthology featuring a powerful introductory essay by Tezozomoc, followed by over 120 poems from an incredible community of voices.

Our youngest poet is just 8 years old, reminding us that poetry belongs to every generation. This collection brings together novice poets, award-winning poets, poets laureate, educators, retired poets, blue-collar workers, and writers from all walks of life—each voice contributing something unique to the global chorus of poetry.

You will find poems written in Spanish and others translated from their native languages, reflecting the rich linguistic and cultural diversity of the poets featured.

In this edition, we received poems from Albania, Australia, China, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, the United States, the Philippines, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kurdistan, Mexico, Nigeria, the United Kingdom, Romania, Uruguay, and Uzbekistan.

Congratulations to all the anthologized poets who made this collection possible. Your words travel across borders and remind us of the power of poetry to connect us all.

We look forward to celebrating together at the 19th Annual Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival this April for National Poetry Month.

THE POETS

Fizza Abbas is a journalist, poet, author, and screenwriter whose work has appeared in more than 100 international literary journals, including Diode, Beltway Poetry Quarterly, and London Grip. She won the Waterford Competition in 2025 and was a finalist for the Oxford Brookes International Poetry Contest (2021). She is the author of the chapbooks Bakho and Ool Jalool.

Amanda Adams is a writer in recovery whose work reflects on survival, awakening, and gratitude. A post-transplant survivor, she writes about finding light after darkness and navigating life with renewed perspective.

Azalea Aguilar is a Chicana poet from South Texas whose work carries the scents of the Gulf and the echoes of childhood memory. Her poetry explores motherhood, trauma, and the resilience found in spaces shaped by survival. Her work has appeared in Angel City Review, The Skinny Poetry Journal, The Acentos Review, and Somos en Escrito.

Naomi Alegre is a Mexican American poet born and raised in Brownsville, Texas. Alegre works as an Editorial Associate for a multimedia platform. Alegre hopes to one day turn poetry into her full-time job. 

Roxana Arroyo is a Mexican poet. She has published her work in several magazines and three anthologies around the Americas. Her first poetry collection is forthcoming under an independent publishing project based in Mexico City.

Andrea Arzaba (Mexico, 1989) is a bilingual journalist and writer. She holds a master’s degree in Latin American Studies from Georgetown University and a diploma in Creative Writing from UNAM. She was selected for the Under the Volcano Writers’ Residency in Tepoztlán. Her work appears in Casapaís, Palabra, and Nat Geo Traveler.

Dilnoza Azizova is a writer and teacher from the Fergana region of Uzbekistan. She was born in the Baghdad district and graduated from Kokand Pedagogical Institute. She teaches at Fergana Polytechnic Institute and is the author of several books, including Little Angel, Joy, Hot Bread, Famous Work, Bird Who Read Many Books, and Sweet Tea.

After a 25-year teaching career, Sara Etgen-Baker began pursuing her lifelong writing dreams. She is the author of the memoir vignette collection Shoebox Stories, the poetry collection Kaleidoscopic Verses, and the novel Secrets at Dillehay Crossing. Her work has appeared in Good Old Days Magazine, Guideposts, and Chicken Soup for the Soul.

Crischelle I. Navalta Barnes is an Ilocana poet and educator born in Nueva Vizcaya and raised in Baguio City, Philippines, and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her writing explores identity, place, nature, and autobiography. She lives in Edinburg, Texas with her husband and children.

Glory Barnes (age 8) is the youngest poet included in this anthology. Her creativity and imagination shine through her poetry, and we are honored to share her work.

Nayanjyoti Baruah is a poet and teacher from Assam, India. His poems have appeared in national and international journals including Rasa Literary Review, The Journal of Undiscovered Poets, Libretto Magazine, and Otherwise Engaged. His work has also appeared in local newspapers such as GPlus. He has co-authored several anthologies.

Victor Benavides is a writer and English teacher from the South Texas borderlands. He teaches high school English, Dual Enrollment, and College Prep in Port Isabel, Texas. His work has appeared in Boundless: The Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival Anthology 2025.

Dario Beniquez was raised in Far Rockaway, New York, and lives in San Antonio, Texas. A poet and engineer, he holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. He led the Gemini Ink Writers’ Open Workshop for many years and currently facilitates poetry groups in San Antonio. His work appears in journals including Rio Grande Review and Big Read Zine. He is the author of Zone of Silence.

Wilson Rafael León Blanchar is a Colombian writer, industrial engineer, and educator. He is the author of A Life and a Thousand Anecdotes (Vol. 1) and is preparing the publication of Vol. 2. His writing blends memory, humor, and poetic sensitivity to explore human connections, time, and lived experience.

Wilson Rafael León Blanchar es un escritor colombiano, ingeniero industrial y educador. Es autor de Una vida y mil anécdotas (Vol. 1) y tiene próxima la publicación del Vol. 2. Su escritura une memoria, humor y sensibilidad poética para explorar los vínculos humanos, el tiempo y la experiencia vital.

Julie Brandon is a poet, playwright, and short story writer. Her work has appeared in Bewildering Stories, Detangled Brain, Altered Reality, Witcraft, Mini Plays Magazine, The Writers’ Journal, and Verseve Poetry, among others. Her plays have been produced in the U.S. and U.K. and featured on podcasts, including Theatrical Shenanigans. Her poetry collection My Tears, Like Rain was published in 2024.

Corbett Buchly has published poems in more than thirty-five journals, including Rio Grande Review, Plainsongs, Black Manifold, SLAB, and Barrow Street. He is an alumnus of Texas Christian University and the University of Southern California’s Professional Writing Program. He lives in Northeast Texas.

Natividad Sergia Domech Cárdenas (La Habana, 1959) es doctora en Ciencias Veterinarias y escritora de poesía y cuentos para niños y adultos. Sus poemas han sido publicados en revistas y antologías nacionales e internacionales, entre ellas Como cada jueves, de la Fundación Nicolás Guillén. Ha participado en festivales internacionales de poesía y ha recibido premios como Rafaela Chacón Nardi (2008), Farraluque (2011) y el Premio Mundial Nosside Caribe (Italia, 2013).
Natividad Sergia Domech Cárdenas (Havana, 1959) holds a PhD in Veterinary Sciences and writes poetry and stories for children and adults. Her work has appeared in national and international journals and anthologies, including Como cada jueves from the Nicolás Guillén Foundation. She has participated in international poetry festivals and received several literary awards, including the Rafaela Chacón Nardi Prize (2008), the Farraluque Prize (2011), and the Nosside World Poetry Prize (Caribbean Section, Italy, 2013).

Paola Carrasco, originally from Ecuador, lives in the Rio Grande Valley along the U.S.–Mexico border. A pediatrician with a passion for global health, she founded the RGV Women Poet Society, a community of poets supporting one another’s writing and outreach. Her work appears in Praisesong for the People, Scribbled, and Letras en la Frontera.

Aldo Cristian Méndez Castillo (Ciudad Valles, San Luis Potosí, 1980) writes poetry in Spanish and English. His work has appeared in numerous anthologies, including Boundless (2023–2025), Amor y Desamor, Locos contadores de historias, and Poetas mexicanos.

Bidisha Chakraborty is a postgraduate student of English Language and Literature at the University of Calcutta. She holds a B.Ed degree and has published and presented research on Italian literature. Her current academic interests include neuroplasticity and literary studies, and she hopes to pursue doctoral research in Italian literature.

Sammy Jo Cienfuegos has her roots in Brownsville, Texas. She received her BA from St. Edward’s University and works as a journalist, editor, and grant consultant. A writer and lover of stories, she enjoys reading, practicing yoga, and adventuring with her dog, Ollie.

Arturo Cortez Jr. is a border-town poet whose work explores peer pressure, identity, recurring dreams, cults, old-time favorites, and legends such as El Chupacabras. His poetry has appeared in the Boundless anthologies (2024, 2025). His self-published book Curfew is available on the Poetizer app.

PW Covington is the New Mexico Beat Poet Laureate (2024–2026) for the National Beat Poetry Foundation. He has presented his work from San Francisco’s Beat Museum to the Havana International Poetry Festival in Cuba and is a past VIPF featured poet. He is the founder of Hercules Publishing and lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Linda M. Crate (she/her) is a Pennsylvanian writer whose poetry, short stories, articles, and reviews have appeared in numerous magazines both online and in print. She has published fifteen chapbooks, the latest being not your piñata (Alien Buddha Publishing, June 2025).

Doug Croft writes poetry and essays. His work has appeared in anthologies and literary journals. His first full-length poetry collection, Exposed Roots, was published in 2023. He lives in North Carolina, where he enjoys family, nature, music, and traveling to see his favorite rock and roll bands.

Christopher Dabrowski is a writer and screenwriter whose work has appeared in thousands of publications worldwide. He is the author of numerous books, including Escape, Anomaly, and A Monster Pretending to Be Human. His stories have inspired several international film adaptations, and his screenplays have received awards at film and writing festivals.

Vito del Valle is a Chicano writer and musician from Donna, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley. His work has appeared in Boundless Anthology (2022–2025), The Northwind Treasury (2023), Writer’s Block (South Texas College), and Interstice.

Kim Denning is a Latina poet from Texas who practices curanderismo in the footsteps of her ancestral abuelas. Her poetry has appeared in various online and print publications. Her work explores growing up on the border, heartache, and unapologetic feminist strength.

Camila Elizondo is an eighth-grade student from the Rio Grande Valley who enjoys writing poetry and practicing for UIL competitions.

Amanda Puryear El is a Texas-based spoken-word poet, recording artist, and cultural advocate whose work centers on emotional truth, storytelling, and lived experience. She is the first Poet Laureate of Pharr, Texas. Her Grammy-considered album Daily Dosage brought national recognition to her ability to transform personal narratives into resonant, universal reflections.

Kelly Ann Ellis is the co-founder of hotpoet, Inc., a literary nonprofit, managing editor of its arts journal Equinox, and author of the poetry collection The Hungry Ghost Diner (Lamar University Literary Press, 2023). She lives and works in Houston, Texas.

Anne Estevis, a native Texan, writes poetry, memoir, and fiction. She and her granddaughter Alyssa Canul co-authored Tattoos and Old Lace, a collection of their poems. Estevis is retired from the University of Texas System.

Kevin Adam Flores is a Hispanic American poet whose work has appeared in Boundless, The Twin Bill, The Hole in the Head Review, Superpresent, and Fleas on the Dog. His book Bittersweet Borderline is forthcoming in 2026. He lives in South Texas.

Luis Enrique Flores is a borderlander, bilingual and bicultural mental health professional, and writer who has lived on both sides of the Texas–Mexico border. His work reflects a unique perspective on the people, culture, and challenges of this often misunderstood region.

Madina Furkatova is a polyglot poet and published author from Samarkand, Uzbekistan, who speaks five languages. She founded the Community Changers club and the LingvoKino website project. A student at the Samarkand State Institute of Foreign Languages, she serves as a coordinator in the Uzbekistan Youth Union.

Barbara Anna Gaiardoni is an Italian pedagogist and author. Her Japanese-style poetry has appeared in more than 260 international journals and has been translated into twelve languages. She has received numerous national and international literary awards. Her work can be found online at her author website.

Imelda Zapata Garcia is a lifelong activist and founding member of the Chicano Arts Theater of San Antonio. She is the author of several poetry collections, including Cielitos (2005), Cielitos Within the Ether (2023), and Beyond the Pyre (2023), with Viva Voce forthcoming in 2026. Her poetry has appeared in anthologies in the United States and abroad.

Immanuel A. Garcia is a queer Latino spoken word artist based in Lewisville, Texas. He is the author of two full-length poetry collections, Pèace De Résistance (2017) and Under Wannabe Moonlight (2024), and the forthcoming chapbook Purple-Eyed Heirlooms, selected in the 2025 William D. Barney Chapbook Contest.

Magaly Garcia (@ofcatandcacti) received an MFA in Writing & Publishing from Vermont College of Fine Arts and writes horror and poetry in South Texas. Her work has appeared in Fantasy Magazine, Halloweenthology: Día de Muertos, and Blink of an Eye.

Gabriella Garofalo, born in Italy several decades ago, fell in love with the English language at age six and began writing poetry the same year. She is the author of several books, including Lo sguardo di Orfeo, L’inverno di vetro, Casa di erba, Blue Branches, A Blue Soul, and After the Blue Rush.

Erika Elisa Garza is an actress, educator, and poet from Ciudad Mier, Tamaulipas, México. She holds a Master of Arts in Spanish and is the author of Con alas de mariposa. Her work has appeared in multiple international anthologies. In 2024, she served as one of the editors of Boundless.

Lí Jett Garza is a two-time published poet who has been writing for three years. Their interests include astronomy, environmental preservation, illustration, and studying Latin.

Luis Omar Garza is a high school English teacher with 25 years of experience. He holds a BA in English Literature from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, specializing in Medieval English Literature. He is also a musician who plays piano and guitar and enjoys the outdoors and martial arts.

Cynthia Gabriela Ortegon Gonzalez is a Mexican-born writer and educator whose work explores migration, resilience, identity, and healing. She immigrated to the United States with her mother and was raised in the American school system. She teaches English at San Benito CISD and discovered her passion for writing at Texas Southmost College. Her poem “Bruises” appeared in The Gallery Magazine at UTRGV.

Edward K. Gonzales was born in Northeast Los Angeles and now lives in El Paso, Texas. His work has appeared in several journals, including the Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival Anthology. A lifelong writer of journals and prose, he reads at Barbed Wire open mics and is active in several poetry groups.

Joann González is a Texas-based writer and artist who sees writing as a way to understand and share life’s experiences. Through poetry and storytelling, she hopes readers find pieces of themselves within her worker. Today, she combines filmmaking and poetry to express her unique approach to storytelling.

John Grey is an Australian poet living in the United States. His work has recently appeared in Shift, River and South, and Flights. His latest books include Bittersweet, Subject Matters, and Between Two Fires. New work is forthcoming in Rush, Writer’s Block, and Trampoline.

Gábor G. Gyukics (b. 1958) is a Hungarian poet, jazz poet, and literary translator born in Budapest. He is the author of eleven books of poetry in Hungarian, English, Arabic, Czech, and Bulgarian, as well as numerous translations. His work has appeared in hundreds of journals and anthologies worldwide. In 2020 he received the Hungary Beat Poet Laureate Lifetime Award.

Hussein Habasch is a poet from Kurdistan whose books and poems have been translated into many languages. His work has appeared in more than 200 international anthologies. He is the author and translator of about twenty books, has participated in numerous international poetry festivals, and has received several Kurdish and international literary awards.

Jean Hackett is a poet, educator, and naturalist who splits her time between San Antonio and the Texas Hill Country. Her poetry has appeared in journals including Voices de la Luna, Langdon Review, Ocotillo Review, and The Windward Review. Her first chapbook, Masked/Unmuted, was published in 2021.

Ken Hada is the author of Visions for the Night (Turning Plow Press, 2025). His previous books have received awards from the National Western Heritage Museum, the SCMLA Poetry Prize, and the Oklahoma Center for the Book. More at kenhada.org.

Jim LaVilla-Havelin is a poet, editor, and community arts activist in San Antonio. Coordinator for National Poetry Month in the city, he is the author of eight poetry collections, including Mesquites Teach Us to Bend (Lamar University Press, 2025) and A Thoreau Book (Alabrava Press, 2025). Literary Executor for the estate of Rosemary Catacalos, he co-edited Rosemary Catacalos: On the Life and Work of an American Master for the Unsung Masters Series (University of Houston). He is a 2026 distinguished member of the Texas Institute of Letters.

A.M. Hayden is an award-winning professor of Humanities, Philosophy, and World Religions and served as Poet Laureate for Sinclair College from 2021–2025. A two-time Pushcart Prize nominee and River Heron Review Editors’ Choice winner, she lives on a windy little farm with her family and rescued animals, including their pup Vinny Valentine and a three-legged goat named Old Man Jenkins.

Jesse G. Herrera is a poet from Laredo, Texas, originally born in San Antonio. A retired UPS Teamster driver, he began writing poetry in 1999 in Professor Randy Koch’s creative writing class. Influenced by poet Trinidad “Trino” Sánchez Jr., Herrera believes poetry is a calling, not a profession.

Elsa Martinez Hinojosa was born and raised in Chicago and has lived in Texas since 1977. A retired high school teacher of 34 years, she is also a children’s book author and illustrator. Her book Las Cabañuelas: An Ancient Weather Prediction and Farming Story won the Mariposa Award for Best New Author in Spanish at the 2025 International Latino Book Awards.
Elsa Martínez Hinojosa nació y creció en Chicago y vive en Texas desde 1977. Fue maestra de secundaria durante 34 años. También es autora e ilustradora del libro infantil Las Cabañuelas: An Ancient Weather Prediction and Farming Story, ganador del Premio Mariposa a Mejor Autora Nueva en Español en los International Latino Book Awards 2025.

Robert Allen Hinojosa is a Brownsville transplant who has fallen in love with the Rio Grande Valley. His poetry has appeared in Interstice, Resilience en el Valle, and other publications. He served as art director for the former UTRGV literary journal The Chachalaca Review. When not reading or writing poetry, he enjoys restoring old cars.

Andrea Hernández Holm is from Arizona, with family roots in Northern Mexico and Texas. Her writing explores relationships with land, community, and family across the U.S.–Mexico Borderlands. Her first book, Not Enough, Too Much (FlowerSong Press, 2024), has been followed by publications in Somos Xicanas, La Raíz, and Beyond Borders Literary Review. She is a professional writing consultant.

Brian L. Jacobs, PhD, is a poet and editor of Tofu Ink Arts Press. Raised in Southern California, he has taught English and Humanities in K–12 and college settings for more than thirty-five years. He studied at Naropa University, where he assisted poets Allen Ginsberg and Julie Patton. His work has appeared in numerous journals, including The Bangalore Review, Shiela-Na-Gig, Sunspot Lit, and The South Florida Poetry Journal. His latest book is Homocaust.

Josiah Jack Kalian is a wandering poet who has traveled across 40 U.S. states and 21 countries while serving as a search and rescue diver, Army combat medic, and student of life. His work is forthcoming in Perseverance & Resilience (Poetry Society of Virginia, 2026), edited by Virginia Poet Laureate Dr. Mattie Quesenberry Smith.

Dan MBO KUBA is a contributing editor with a background in finance and development. He works as a freelance SEO writer for various organizations and has authored several books and articles, including work published in Revue Avenir and Revue of Digitalization and Management. He has been active as an author since 2016.

Lamar Jones is an Emmy-nominated recording artist, entrepreneur, and author whose work bridges music, storytelling, and culture. He is the founder of The Jank Gourmet BBQ Sauce, an award-winning brand recognized by H-E-B and now featured in select Walmart stores. Through his writing and creative work, Jones often explores themes of perseverance, community, and purpose. A proud father and storyteller, he continues to inspire others through music, business, and the written word.

D.L. Lang served as the poet laureate of Vallejo, California from 2017 to 2019. An internationally published poet, D.L. Lang’s poetry has been anthologized in over 95 titles worldwide. She is the author of 18 poetry books. 

Viorica Laurent, born in Romania and now residing in France, is the author of more than thirty books, including seven published in Romania this year.

Felicia Lopez is an award-winning Rio Grande Valley author born in McAllen and raised in Edinburg, now living in Corpus Christi, Texas. Her writing focuses on storytelling that inspires others through shared experiences. Her debut book is In Space and Time.

Eloísa Pérez-Lozano writes poems and essays about Mexican-American identity, women’s issues, and motherhood. A Best of the Net-nominated writer, her work has been featured in The Texas Observer, Houston Chronicle, and MUTHA Magazine, among others. She lives with her family in Houston, Texas.

Alixia Mexa (Cd. Jiménez, Chihuahua) escribe ensayo, poesía histórica, autobiografía y cuento. Recibió el galardón Chihuahuense Destacada en Literatura y Letras. Es autora de Rosa de arena, Villa: el poder intangible, Mujeres Calipso y Decem Chartam. Sus textos han sido publicados en revistas y antologías de México, Estados Unidos y varios países de América Latina y Europa. Es cofundadora del grupo cultural Dulcinea Editoras.

Daniel Miltz, a native of South Detroit, Michigan, lives in Hampstead, New Hampshire. A freelance writer and poet, he spent 40 years as a Mechanical Engineering Designer working on government aerospace programs. His work has appeared in more than 250 anthologies, and he is the author of two books. His poetry reflects the influence of the Beat Generation and explores memory, identity, and human experience.

Victoria Montes is a playwright, writer, and award-winning poet from Seattle, Washington, now living in South Texas. She was a featured poet at the 2025 Valley International Poetry Festival. Her work appears in Boundless 2025, and she is the author of the poetry collection A Life Told Through Poetry.

Masiel Montserrat is a Mexican poet and cultural promoter based in California. She holds an MA in Hispanic Literature and Linguistics and has received the Juana Goergen Poetry Prize, the Golden Eagle World Award for Humanist Excellence, and the César Vallejo Notas Migratorias Prize. Her work explores memory, migration, language, and tenderness as resistance.

Erika Rebeca Rodríguez Moreno is a Mexican poet whose work explores memory, loss, power, and emotional rupture through lyrical and symbolic language. Her writing weaves intimate experience with social reflection. She is currently developing the poetic project Voces Silenciadas.

Sittara Muneer is a BS English Literature student at Lahore College for Women University in Lahore. She hopes to pursue a career in creative writing.

Tom Murphy is a road poet and short fiction writer who served as Corpus Christi Poet Laureate (2021–2022). His books include where does love go (2026), When I Wear Bob Kaufman’s Eyes (2022), Snake Woman Moon (2021), Pearl (2020), and American History (2017). He has attended the VIPF since 2018.

Gabriel González Núñez is a professor of Translation at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. He is the author of twelve children’s books published by Penguin Uruguay (2019–2024), the novel La dama errante en la ciudad del fin del mundo (Ulterior Editorial, 2025), the short story collection Rumbos (Jade Publishing, 2021), and the poetry collection Ese golpe de luz (FlowerSong Press, 2020). He is originally from Uruguay.
Gabriel González Núñez es profesor titular de Traducción en la Universidad de Texas en el Valle del Río Grande. Es autor de doce libros infantiles publicados por Penguin Uruguay (2019–2024), la novela La dama errante en la ciudad del fin del mundo (Ulterior Editorial, 2025), el libro de cuentos Rumbos (Jade Publishing, 2021) y el poemario Ese golpe de luz (FlowerSong Press, 2020). Es uruguayo.

Joseph C. Ogbonna is a prolific poet from Nigeria whose work has appeared widely in magazines, journals, anthologies, and online publications. His poetry explores themes of migration, religion, nature, love, philosophy, and history. He lives in Enugu, Nigeria.

John Chinaka Onyeche is a Nigerian writer based in Port Harcourt and a historian from Etche in Rivers State. His work explores family, broken homes, survival, and memory. His writing has appeared in journals including York Literary Review, McNeese Review, Tilted House Journal, and Brittle Paper. He has been nominated for the Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize.

TEDx speaker Daniel García Ordaz, also known as The Poet Mariachi, served as McAllen Poet Laureate in 2023 and 2024. A 2018 Pushcart Prize nominee, his work has been taught and studied by academics in the United States and abroad. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Michael C. Paul is a writer, illustrator, and historian who lives in Northern Virginia with his wife, daughter, and stepson.

Laura Peña is an award-winning poet from Houston, Texas. She holds a BA in English Literature and an MA in Education and works as a primary bilingual teacher and translator of poetry into Spanish. Her work has appeared in print and online journals, and she has featured at Valley International Poetry Festival, Inprint First Fridays, and Public Poetry.

José Antonio Acosta Perea nació en Santiago Tuxtla, Veracruz, México, en el año 2000. Poeta emergente, encuentra en la poesía una forma profunda de expresar emociones, sensibilidad y reflexión. Proveniente de una familia con fuerte inclinación artística, su obra busca conectar la música del lenguaje con la experiencia humana.
José Antonio Acosta Perea was born in Santiago Tuxtla, Veracruz, Mexico, in 2000. An emerging poet, he finds in poetry a powerful way to express emotion, sensitivity, and reflection. Coming from a family with strong artistic roots, his work seeks to connect the music of language with human experience.

Dustin Pickering is the founder of Transcendent Zero Press. His writing has appeared in Huffington Post, Los Angeles Review, World Literature Today, Asymptote Journal, and other publications. He is the author of several poetry collections, including Salt and Sorrow. His honors include placements in the erbacce prize and recognition from the Rahim Karim World Prize.

Armenida Qyqja was born in Tirana, Albania, in 1977 and immigrated to Canada in 1995. She is the author of ten poetry books and two collections of short stories. Her most recent book is Golden Armor (Transcendent Zero Press, 2025). She was shortlisted for the Adelaide Literary Journal’s 9th Annual Literary Contest in 2025.

Anushka Rathi is a 20-year-old aspiring Chartered Accountancy student based in Navi Mumbai. A trained classical dancer and performer, she expresses herself through poetry and dance and enjoys meaningful conversations and creative exploration.

Anthony Ripp is a storyteller whose writing is often shaped by life on the road and time spent in remote places around the world. Drawing inspiration from real events, his work explores the beauty found on the rusty side of life and seeks to evoke feeling through lived experience.

Marina Rodriguez earned her B.A. in English from the University of the Incarnate Word. She is a mother of three who enjoys the simple freedom of being barefoot. Poetry allows her to embrace and express her most authentic self.

Ramiro Rodríguez (Nuevo Laredo, 1966) is a Mexican poet and writer. He received the Tamaulipas State Poetry Prize (ITCA) and the “Altaír Tejeda de Tamez” State Poetry Prize in 2008. His poetry collections include Íngrima la ciudad, Angahuan, Partituras de insomnio / Scores from Insomnia, and Detente, sombra. He has also published fiction and essays.  

Linda Feliciana Romero is from Harlingen, Texas. Her work has appeared in Boundless, the Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival anthology; Along the River 2: More Voices from the Rio Grande; Twenty: In Memoriam; and La Bloga. She was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2018. She is a dyslexia therapist and board member of the International Dyslexia Association–Austin Branch.

Alfikri Mirza Rosadi is an Indonesian poet whose work explores family, memory, and the simple moments of everyday life. His poetry reflects personal experience and emotional observation.

Rosalva Ruiz was born in Weslaco, Texas, in 1981. She began writing as a way to express herself and is a member of Códice Colectivo Literario. Her work has appeared in national and international anthologies and literary e-zines. Ruiz serves as the inaugural Poet Laureate of the City of Weslaco.

Yelitza Saenz is a writer from Roma, Texas and a graduate of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, where she studied English with a concentration in Creative Writing and a minor in Mexican American Studies. Her work explores Mexican American literacy, mental health awareness, and memory. Her poetry appears in Borderlands 2023 and she collaborated on the spoken word album Nightly Dosage.

Alejandra “Mera Mera” Sánchez is a bilingual performance poet and visual artist from San Antonio. Her work draws on memory, sensuality, and cultural devotion, exploring the body as a site of language, resistance, and healing. Through poetry and performance, she creates spaces for resilience, ritual, and radical pleasure.

Daniel SanMateo is a poet and writer from Mexico. He is the author of several children’s books, including Luciérnagas en el desierto (Bambú, 2012) and the recent La cumbia de los corazones rotos (Amtalai, 2025).

Michael Shoemaker is a poet, haikuist, photographer, writer, editor and award-winning author from Magna, Utah. He is the author of four poetry/photography collections, including Sky Mountain Rain Stars, a collection of short poems (Kelsay Books, forthcoming 2026.) His poems are in Blue Lake Review, The High Window and Poetry Pacific.

SP Singh is an army veteran, novelist, short story writer, and painter. His debut novel Parrot Under the Pine Tree was shortlisted for the Best Fiction Award at the Gurgaon Literary Festival and nominated at the Valley of Words Literary Festival in 2018. His short story “Palak Dil” won the South Asian Award for Micro Fiction in 2019.

Richard Stimac lives in the St. Louis, Missouri area. He is the author of the poetry collection Bricolage (Spartan Press), two poetry chapbooks, and a flash fiction chapbook. His work explores time and memory through the landscapes and human stories of the St. Louis region.

Susan Beall Summers (Palacios, TX) is a poet whose work centers on observation, place, and lived experience. Her poems explore thresholds between bodies, power, and memory, attending to moments where witness clarifies what is often left unsaid.

Karen Cline-Tardiff has been writing since she could hold a pen. She writes poetry, flash fiction, personal essays, and short stories, and has been widely published in online and print outlets. Born in Texas, she now lives in the mountains of Arkansas. She is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Gnashing Teeth Publishing.

Tezozomoc is a Los Angeles–based Chicano essayist, poet, and activist, and a 2009 Oscar nominee. His work has been published internationally and by Amoxcalli Books (I Am Not Your Chihuahua) and Floricanto Press (Gashes!: Poems and Pain from the Halls of Injustice), which was shortlisted for the Beverly Prize for Literature. He has performed nationally and internationally at virtual readings and open mics.

Gouri Unnikrishnan is a 10th-grade student who lives in Frisco, Texas. She enjoys music, art, and reading poetry and dystopian novels.

Priya Unnikrishnan is a bilingual writer based in Texas, USA. Her poems have appeared in Barcelona Literature, Madras Courier, Cultural Cult, Worlds and Words, Boundless Anthology, Poets for Humanity Anthology, and Otherwise Engaged: A Literature and Arts Journal. She also writes poetry, articles, and stories in her mother tongue, Malayalam.

Brenda Vaca is a Xicana poet, author, and independent publisher from Sejatnga, Unceded Tongva Territory (South Whittier, California). She is the author of Riot of Roses: Poems and the forthcoming Odes y Oraciones (y unas pocas maldiciones). She is the founder of Riot of Roses Publishing House.

Cecilia Marie Valdez is a Weslaco, Texas native. An artist, educator, and writer, her recent work appears in Boundless 2024 and Voices of the Rio Grande Valley: A Creative Nonfiction Anthology, Vol. 2. She and her media naranja, Rudy, make their home in Mission, Texas.

Victor Vasquez, originally from Eagle Pass, Texas, is a former migrant farm worker who navigated poverty, prejudice, and an English-only education. He served in the U.S. Army before earning a degree from the University of Oregon and an MPA from Harvard University. His writing draws on borderlands memory, cultural resilience, and the search for belonging.

Edward Vidaurre was born and raised in Los Angeles and now lives in South Texas. He is the author of ten collections of poetry and works as a publisher and editor with FlowerSong Press. Vidaurre also serves as the Director of Operations for the Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival.

Citlalli Villanueva es escritora y abogada originaria de Veracruz, México. Cursó la Maestría en Bellas Artes en Escritura Creativa en Español en New York University. Su poemario Cinisiomancia fue publicado en abril de 2023. Sus poemas también han aparecido en Periódico de Poesía de la UNAM y en la revista Temporales de NYU.
Citlalli Villanueva is a writer and lawyer from Veracruz, Mexico. She earned an MFA in Creative Writing in Spanish from New York University. Her poetry collection Cinisiomancia was published in April 2023. Her poems have also appeared in Periódico de Poesía (UNAM) and Temporales, NYU’s literary journal.

Trev Wainwright, billed as this anthology’s international guest poet, has appeared in every edition of Boundless since 2012 and has featured at eleven festivals. His poetry captures special moments in rhyme and often reflects the experiences of his travels.

Trier Ward is a mother, poet, and scientist living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She enjoys wildlife rehabilitation and social activism. Her poetry collection The Art of Escape is available online, and her latest poems are drawn from her forthcoming book Mirrors and Mirages.

Aziza Xasanova was born on October 1, 2004, in Chirchik, Tashkent Region. She is a student at Tashkent University of Economics and Pedagogy and received the title of “Faculty Zulfiyasi” in 2025. Her poems and stories have appeared in anthologies including Bahor Ifori, Kumush Satrlar, New Uzbek Youth, and Uzbek Creative Girls.

Ma Yongbo (b. 1964) is a Chinese poet, scholar, and translator, and a representative of Chinese avant-garde poetry. He was among the first translators to introduce American postmodern poetry into Chinese. He has published more than eighty original works and translations since 1986. His translation of Moby-Dick has sold more than 600,000 copies. He teaches at Nanjing University of Science and Technology.

Guan Yu is an award-winning emerging writer based in Shanghai. His work has been widely published in Hong Kong and Taiwan and translated into English, French, Thai, and Arabic. His poems have been featured at art exhibitions and cultural events, including those at the University of Cambridge and Tsinghua University.

Jeannette Zallar is a writer from South Texas who lives with her partner and two cats. Her work explores culture and lived experience. Her writing appears in Zest of the Lemon and Boundless: The Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival Anthology 2025.