Writing in Houston
SEPT OCT 2019 208POETS & WRITERS IS MORE than a magazine. We are a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving creative writers. We pay fees
to writers giving readings and leading workshops, provide information and advice to authors, and help them connect with one another and
with audiences. We also sponsor a number of awards and prizes. Learn more at pw.org.
This past spring Poets & Writers launched United States of
Writing, an initiative to expand its core programs to better
serve writers coast to coast, especially writers of color and
other historically marginalized groups. With generous
support from the Hearst Foundations, and additional
support provided by the Amazon Literary Partnership,
Poets & Writers has taken the first steps toward this
national initiative with a focus on three cities: Detroit,
New Orleans, and Houston.
We began by engaging
part-time Literary Outreach
Coordinators in each of the
three cities, to help us bet-
ter understand the needs of
writers and spread the word
about what Poets & Writers
offers. One of those coordina-
tors, Lupe Mendez, is a poet,
teacher, and activist in Hous-
ton. He holds an MFA from
the University of Texas in El
Paso, and his debut collection,
Why I Am Like Tequila, was
recently published by Willow
Books.
We asked Mendez to give us a sense of what’s happening
in Houston and how he sees his role in helping to create
a stronger network for writers in America’s fourth largest
city.
How would you describe the literary scene in Houston?
Vibrant, multiethnic, and bilingual.
What are your favorite literary places in Houston?
It’s tough to keep this list short, but here goes: InPrint
House, in the Museum District, hosts every kind of work-
shop and lit event for organizations across the city. Avant
Garden is an event space with a history spanning more than
twenty years, during which it has hosted two longstand-
ing poetry series: the Notsuoh Open Open Mic series—
Notsuoh is Houston spelled backward—and currently
Write About Now. And Casa Ramirez FolkArt Gallery
is an art space and bookstore where the founder, Macario
Ramirez, hosts frequent readings.
Poets & Writers has funded literary events in Houston
for many years, but its presence has been modest. How
are you getting the word out to more writers?
I’ve hosted four informational meetings at different venues
across Houston, with the specific purpose of informing or-
ganizers, poets, writers, and curators about how they can
apply for mini-grants from Poets & Writers to fund writ-
ing workshops, readings, and performances, as well as to let
them know about the purpose
of my position and share infor-
mation about the website—for
example, the revamped Poets &
Writers Directory—and about
the organization as a whole.Since becoming a Literary
Outreach Coordinator,
have you discovered any-
thing about what’s going on
in Houston that you didn’t
previously know? Anything
surprise you?
I discovered the Pan African
Library in Westchase, which is
run by the Society for Africans
in Diaspora. The sent a message to me and asked if we could
help promote the library as a venue space for other writers
and artists to use for readings and performances. I believe
that the Pan African Library is one of the few venues on the
west side of town to offer space for such events.Anything else you want to share about the work you’ve
done over the past few months?
Right now I am working on compiling a list of venues in the
city and checking to see just how many calendar days we
have live readings happening. Our literary scene is already
large, and it continues to grow.How can writers in Houston connect with you?
Folks can reach me at [email protected] or on Twitter,
@houstonpworg.Find out more about United States of Writing at pw.org
/content/about_readings_workshops.Lupe Mendez