Booking in-person and virtual visits. For more information email me at vidaurre.poet@gmail.com
• Publisher of FlowerSong/Juventud Press
• Award-Winning Author
• City of McAllen Poet Laureate (2018-19)
• Editor
• Poetry Festival Director
• Workshop leader
• Motivational Speaking Engagements for at-risk students
DISTINGUISHED WRITERS TO BE INDUCTED INTO THE TEXAS INSTITUTE OF LETTERS 2022
Congratulations to our 2022 inductees into the Texas Institute of Letters: Frederick Luis Aldama, Shelley Armitage, Carol Flake Chapman, Catherine Clinton, Will Evans, Lupe Ruiz-Flores, Varian Johnson, Cynthia Leitich Smith, Christina Soontornvat, Francisco Stork, Melissa Studdard, Don Tate, Edward Vidaurre, Amanda Eyre Ward, and Jennifer Ziegler.
2022-TIL-Honorees-Press-Release (texasinstituteofletters.org)
Edward Vidaurre is the author of nine 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 Poet Laureate for the state of Texas. 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.
Edward Vidaurre is an award-winning poet and author of nine collections of poetry. He is the 2018-2019 City of McAllen, Texas Poet Laureate, 2022 inductee to the Texas Institute of Letters, and publisher of FlowerSong Press. His writings have appeared in The New York Times, The Texas Observer, Los Angeles Review of Books, as well as other journals and anthologies. He has edited over 50 books and anthologies. Vidaurre resides in McAllen, Texas with his wife and daughter where they foster dogs in need until they find their forever homes.
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Q & A with Edward Vidaurre
Do you care whether or not your words mean something to anyone, or is the writing a self-serving exercise?
Everything I write, whether it's a poem about zombies or border violence is meant to bring something to myself and others. I hope that my poetry reminds people of a memory they can relate to, informs some about the issues at hand, celebrates literature and writing itself, and hopefully inspires someone.
Do you sit and think through every word of every stanza or do you just write freely and allow the words to flow?
Usually I let the words come to me. I don't have much patience for sitting and trying to conjure a poem. I leave the patience of working on a poem during the editing phase. In a time of crisis, writing becomes urgent though.
When did you first start writing and were there any incidents in your life that made you want to write?
I have always been a writer of sorts. I was a big love letter writer in high school. I was the kid that didn't mind writing standards in elementary school. I love the narrative writings and also practiced good penmanship. "I will not chew gum in the classroom." I chewed gum and purposely got caught to stay after class and write it 100 times.
Who are your favorite writers and why?
My favorite writer is the last one I read that has inspired a new piece. Lately, I’ve been loving the works of Lorca & Juan Ramón Jiménez. Contemporary poets Matt Sedillo, Gris Muñoz, Emmy Pérez, Naomi Shihab Nye and Odilia Galván Rodríguez
Would you like to introduce yourself and your artwork?
I am Edward Vidaurre, conceived in El Salvador, born and raised in East Los Angeles who made his way to South Texas. I learned how to write poetry by reading lots of it and listening to my heart.
What are you trying to communicate with your art?
I hope it heals or brings forth action whether of self love or activism.
Which creative medium would you love to pursue but haven’t yet?
I'm all over the place. One day a photographer, the other a painter. What I really wish I could master is the blessing of being a harmonica player.
Why is poetry important?
It's the art you can see, hear and feel. You can interpret it in music, visual arts and deep within your heart. It’s the silent healer.
What prompted you to begin writing poetry?
Love and pain. Bored at work. Friends dying on the street. The need to write what I felt.
How does a poem begin for you—with an idea, a form or an image?
A scent, a song, a phone call, a voice, a shadow, peeling a potato . . .
Are there any forms you haven't tried but would like to?
No, I don’t try and force duende.
What conditions help you with your writing process?
Silence, as much of it I can have the better. If I’m out at a coffee shop I usually quit when the city starts to wake, when the traffic thickens, the smoke from restaurants start to blow out, when the first person walks up to the barista asking for a double this with a shot of that.
What is the relationship between your speaking voice and your written voice? Hmmm. One is the other's shadow . . . but I never know who is who.