OUR PICK: Laurie Ann Guerrero
Former poet laureate of San Antonio and current poet laureate of Texas, Laurie Ann Guerrero easily has the fancy accolades to earn the distinction of San Anto’s best poet. But our designation here is more about personal and poetic potency than posts or positions. Guerrero, a graduate of McCollum High School on San Antonio’s Southside, is a fiercely proud mother of three, an educator, and an advocate for community literacy and arts education. Her poetry, while steeped in a thorough understanding of structure that she achieved while earning her MFA in Poetry from Drew University, sings and stings with an organic electricity. She has served as Literary Arts Director at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, where she continues to work closely with the Macondo Writers’ Workshop that was founded by Sandra Cisneros. While SA poet laureate, Guerrero spearheaded a successful effort to establish the San Antonio Poetry Archive at the library of Palo Alto College. Busy as she is, you can still catch her reading about town on occasion, and we’d highly recommend it. While Guerrero, who is not even 40 years old yet, only has two books of poetry out so far, A Tongue in the Mouth of the Dying and A Crown for Gumecindo, each of these award-winning collections argues persuasively for Guerrero’s genius.
Previous Winners
WINNER: Jeremy Carolino, Hop & Vine, 5619 W. Loop 1604 N., Suite 109, (210) 878-4071, hopandvinesa.com
2. Gabriel Cardenas, The Fridge, (210) 473-0916, facebook.com/TheFridgeSA
3. Mark Bliss, Bliss, 926 S. Presa St., (210) 225-2547, foodisbliss.com/chef
2. Lucy Lips, twitter.com/lucylips_drag
3. Amerie Parker, instagram.com/amerieparker
WINNER: Miss Dakota Puggy, instagram.com/missdakotapuggy
2. Raven Red Photography, instagram.com/ravenredphoto
3. Dru photography, instagram.com/dru.photo
WINNER: Magda’s Quality Jewelry & Repair, 8275 FM 78 Ste. #10, Converse, (210) 310-7444
2. Sweet Craft Jewelry, sweetcraftjewelry.com
3. Jimmy Green, Vineyard Shopping Center, 1604 North Loop 1604 W., (210) 492-0022, jgreenjewelers.com
WINNER: Tommy Lee Jones
2. Jesse Borrego, twitter.com/thejesseborrego
3. Larry Garza, twitter.com/larrygarzacomic
WINNER: Anel Flores, anelflores.com
2. Jan Jarboe Russell, janjarboerussell.com
3. John Phillipo Santos, johnphillipsantos.com
2. Rey Lopez, twitter.com/ReyMines
3. The Batman of San Antonio, facebook.com/thebatmanofsanantonio
WINNER: Javier Gil, youtube.com/javiergil1910
2. Laura Varela, twitter.com/varelafilm
3. Bryan Ortiz, youtube.com/filmclassicsprod
2. Naomi Shihab Nye
3. Polly Anna Rocha, twitter.com/pollylabruja
WINNER: Jeanelle Stauffer, 827 E. Rector St., facebook.com/focalmassageandrecovery
2. Robert Baldwin, 8842 Broadway, (210) 336-8868, baldwinmassagetherapy.com
3. Laura Valdez, facebook.com/lauravaldezlmt
