Words will be flying this weekend as the Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival gathers poets of all ages for readings throughout Hidalgo and Cameron Counties.
Known as VIPF for short, the festival centers on activities today at the University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg.
On Saturday there will be concurrent readings, workshops, and events in Mission, Edinburg, McAllen, Donna, Weslaco, Harlingen, San Benito, Brownsville and Port Isabel.
It culminates at 7:30 p.m. Saturday with a Poetry Pachanga at the San Benito Community Center. All events are free and open to the public.
The most well-known of the poets is Amalia Ortiz, three-time star of HBO's "Def Poetry" and a native of La Feria.
Ortiz will read her work tonight at the UTPA Library as well as participate in poetry slam following her reading. On Saturday she will read in Brownsville, Harlingen, and Weslaco East High School. Ortiz will not be at the Poetry Pachanga.
Other featured poets include Ricardo Garza, an academic and slam poet who is an Edinburg/PSJA native and resident of Dallas; and Ramiro Rodriguez, an instructor of foreign languages at Texas State Technical College in Harlingen. Rodriguez is a well-known and published poet in his native Tamaulipas, Mexico, where heads a literary group.
Local poets due to speak include Daniel Garcia Ordaz, a.k.a. The Poet Mariachi, Lady Mariposa, Brenda Nettles-Riojas and Robin Cates.
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