Texas, the Lone Poet State?

Nahhhh... it's not true.

So today Scott Wiggerman of Dos Gatos Press released the cover image for next year's Texas Poetry Calendar. I'm happy to have a poem included in the collection, and join the ranks of other Texas writers. I'll blog about it some more later once I have it in my hands next month. 

Anyway, this just got me to thinking: there's quite a bit going on, poetry wise, in Texas these days. Sure, Texas is no New York or California, but we've got our own off beat scene. Sometimes I feel really isolated as a poet, like there's no one I can relate to or talk poetry with. The internet helps, of course. But, on the other hand, I'd like to take a moment to dig a little deeper, show you (and myself) all the wonderful things going on in the Texas poetry scene!

And if you'd like to add to my list, leave a comment!

Texas Publishers:

Arte Publico Press 

I know they publish a lot of children's books, but upon perusing their site, I notice they also publish poetry, too! They also do a lot of reprints of Latino literature, which is how I came to learn about the press. And they're based in Houston...

Cinco Puntos Press

An independent press based out of El Paso. They publish quite a variety of books!

Dark Sky Books

Now let's just say this small press is doing exciting things... they're now based out of Victoria and are affiliated with The University of Houston, Victoria. And it's run by Brian Carr, which means there's automatically a coolness factor built in.

Dos Gatos Press

Of course, they publish the annual poetry calendar, but they have a lot of other neat stuff, too! In particular, they recently published Wingbeats, which is a collection of poetry exercises that might be particularly useful to poetry groups. They're based out of Austin. Oh, and Scott, one of the editors, is pretty awesome. I met him at AWP!

Mouthfeel Press

Mouthfeel Press is a small, independent poetry press that publishes full length and chapbook manuscripts in both English and Spanish. They're pretty much my favorite press. Maria Miranda Maloney is the founder and publisher, and she has the most amazing team of editors and designers at her side. They're based in El Paso, and maybe I'm biased, but they're my favorite Texas press, mainly because of their commitment to creating and fostering a literary community.

Mutabilis Press

This press is really well known for their anthologies. They're based in Houston, and specialize in publishing local poets. 

Pecan Grove Press

Now I don't have any personal experience with this particular press, but I've heard only good things about them. It looks like they're currently on hiatus from their chapbook competition (booo...), which is too bad because they look like a great place to submit to! Anyway, they're based out of San Antonio.

Slough Press

The Texas crazy small press that was crazy enough to publish my first full manuscript X-D  It's run by the fabulous Chuck Taylor, a creative writing professor over at Texas A&M College Station. The press has been around for... like ever. Which is awesome.

Texas Review Press

Based out of Sam Houston State University, it doesn't get much more established than Texas Review Press. They publish chaps, poetry collections, short story collections, novels, y mas (as in, pretty much everything). They have annual competitions, too.

Valley Artistic Outreach Publishing

Now I don't believe these folks publish poetry collections, but I could be wrong. They do, however, put out anthologies, and are currently open to submissions for Along the River II. This is a new kid in town, been around for a year or so now. I'm eager to see this press go on to do wonderful things in the Rio Grande Valley...

Wings Press

A great small Texas press based out of San Antonio. They have a biannual poetry chapbook contest, which sounds pretty exciting to me! I know of several poets with books from Wings, and again, have heard nothing but positives.


Literary Journals:

 American Letters -- San Antonio
Bat City Review -- Austin
Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review -- Austin
BorderSenses -- El Paso
Carcinogenic Poetry -- Austin
Dappled Things -- Arlington
escarp
FortyOunceBachelors -- Austin
Front Porch -- San Marcos
Gulf Coast -- Houston
Haijinx -- Georgetown
Illya's Honey -- Dallas
Iron Horse -- Lubbock
Mayo Review -- Commerce
Molt -- Austin
Overtime -- Plano
REAL --  Nachodoches
Red River Review -- Not sure where this is, but for some reason I think it's Texan.
Reunion -- Dallas
Rio Grande Review -- El Paso
Southwestern American Literature -- San Marcos
Vandal -- College Station
Writers of the Rio Grande -- Rio Grande Valley


Festivals and Events


Austin Poetry Festival
Beat Poetry Fest
Houston Poetry Fest
Poetry at Round Top
Texas Cowboy Poetry Gathering
Valley International Poetry Festival


Did I miss something? Please, let me know!

You can email me at katherinehoerth@gmail.com or leave a comment below.

See, we're doing some great things in Texas. We're not all gun toting ignorant cowgirls! Wait, maybe that describes me better than anything else... ;-)