Poetry Reading with Richard Vargas, Plus Open Mic

Richard Vargas will give a free, in-person reading of his work followed by a community open mic and a brief Q&A session with Vargas. If you would like to read during the open mic portion, please email the Driftless Writing Center at driftlesswritingcenter@gmail.com with the subject line “open mic” to sign up for a 5-minute slot. The open mic is limited to 10 participants, so email now to claim your spot.

About the featured guest:

Richard Vargas was born in Compton, California, and earned his BA at Cal State University, Long Beach, where he studied under Gerald Locklin. Vargas received his MFA from the University of New Mexico, where he workshopped his poetry with Joy Harjo. He has edited/published five issues of The Tequila Review—highlighting early works by Jimmy Santiago Baca, Alberto Rios, Nila Northsun, and many more—and also edited/published The Más Tequila Review from 2009-2015, featuring poets from across the country. He has had four books of his poetry published: McLife (Main Street Rag), which was featured twice on Garrison Keillor’s Writer’s Almanac; American Jesus (Tia Chucha Press); Guernica, revisited (Press 53), also featured on the Writer's Almanac; and How A Civilization Begins (Mouthfeel Press), released on September 8 of this year. Vargas has been the recipient of the Taos Summer Writers’ Conference’s Hispanic Writer Award, served on the faculty of the National Latino Writers Conference, and facilitated a workshop at the Taos Summer Writers’ Conference. His poetry continues to appear in poetry journals and anthologies. Currently, he resides in Wisconsin, near the lake where Otis Redding’s plane crashed.

Date: Friday, October 7th, 2022
Time: 7:00 pm (CST)
Location: Metaphysical Graffiti Bookstore - 119 W. Court Street, Viroqua, WI