Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024 2:50-4:10 p.m.
Cosponsored by the Department of English and the MFA Program.
Laura Villareal is a poet and book critic. Her debut poetry collection, Girl’s Guide to Leaving, (University of Wisconsin Press 2022) was awarded Texas Institute of Letters' John A. Robert Johnson Award for a First Book of Poetry and the Writers' League of Texas Book Award for Poetry. She earned an MFA at Rutgers University—Newark and has been the recipient of fellowships and scholarships from the Stadler Center for Poetry and Literary Arts, National Book Critics Circle’s Emerging Critics Program, and the Dobie Paisano Fellowship Program at University of Texas-Austin. She is currently an associate with Letras Latinas and the Publications Coordinator for Inlandia Books.
Alfredo Aguilar isthe author of the poetry collection On This Side of the Desert (KentState University Press 2020) selected by Natalie Diaz for the Stan and Tom WickPoetry Prize. He received his MFA from the Michener Center for Writers and hasbeen awarded support from MacDowell, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, andThe de Groot Foundation. His work has appeared in The Yale Review, Waxwing,Poetry Northwest, and elsewhere. Born and raised in North County San Diego, hecurrently resides in Central Texas.