(Virtual Readings Quarterly @ 7pm CST; RSVP link coming)
Each month, we feature one Texas author in conversation with another. We offer a vast array of storytellers who represent the spirit of the Lone Star State and continue to keep us on the literary map. In the past, we’ve featured novelists such as Kathleen Kent, Marisol Cortez, Joe Lansdale, and Antonio Ruiz-Camacho and Texas poet laureates such as Carmen Tafolla, Laurie Ann Guerrero, Jenny Brown, and Emmy Pérez.
Join us on Wednesday, September 17th, 2025, via Zoom for a conversation with Joaquín Zihuatanejo, to discuss his new book, Occupy Whiteness (Deep Vellum). Moderated by Natasha Carrizosa.
(Virtual Readings Quarterly @ 7pm CST)
RSVP
Starting from long-form works of literature by straight, white men, Joaquín Zihuatanejo occupies their pages, erasing words and sections, leaving only his poetry behind — the white space that remains becoming colonized Brown verse.
Occupy Whiteness is an act of rebellion that reclaims spaces and highlights a history of erasure of Brown life. An unflinching look at the present day, the collection is haunted and blessed by the image of ancestors who braved the river and desert to travel into border states for the opportunity of freedom. These are poems meant to agitate and create unease, to make the reader realize that neither their author nor the immigrant children he describes are Other. Through poems and interspersed photography from the border, Zihuatanejo poignantly depicts this equally beautiful and brutal place we call home.
About the Author
Joaquin Zihuatanejo is a poet, spoken word artist, and award-winning teacher. Born and raised in the barrio of East Dallas, in his work Joaquín strives to capture the duality of the Chicano culture. He’s been called, “one of the most dynamic and passionate performance poets in the country, melding equal parts comedy, poetry, and dramatic monologue into a crowd-pleasing display of verbal fireworks… always thrilling, Joaquín’s hilariously manic presentation is full of compassion and nuance, never sacrificing substance for style.” Joaquin was a National Poetry Slam Finalist, a Grand Slam Spoken Word Champion, and HBO Def Poet, performing at universities, conferences and poetry slams all over the North America and Europe.
About the Moderator
Natasha Carrizosa is a vessel of the word – poet, writer, speaker, and teaching artist. Her grounding work is deeply rooted in her BIPOC living experiences, mindfulness, and truths. Author of mexiafricana, heavy light, and crown. Her work has been published in Manteca! – an anthology of Afro-Latino poets, CONTRA: Texas Poets Speak Out, The Ascentos Review, Learn Then Burn 2, defunkt & cutthroat magazines, R2: The Rice Review, huizache #9, and AfroLatinas and LatiNegras (Critical Africana Studies.)
See some of our past Big Texas Author Talks (formerly The Big Texas Read) at our YouTube Channel.
UPCOMING 2025 AUTHORS AND TITLES
Dec 17, Cyra Dumitru
PREVIOUS AUTHORS AND TITLES
Amanda Churchill, The Turtle House
Melissa Studdard, Dear Selection Committee
Octavio Quintanilla, The Impossible Hours
Kimberly Garza, The Last Karankawas
Carmen Calatayud, This Tangled Body
Anel Flores, Cortinas de lluvia/Curtains of Rain
Joshua Robbins, Eschatology in Crayon Wax
Ayokunle Falomo, Autobiomythography of
Sasha West, How to Abandon Ship
Ramona Reeves, It Falls Gently All Around
Alex Temblador, Writing an Identity Not Your Own: A Guide for Creative Writers
Glenn Blake, The Old and the Lost: Collected Stories
Cyrus Cassells, Is There Room for Another Horse on Your Horse Ranch?
Jason Stone, The Beauty of the Days Gone By
Mag Gabbert, Sex Depression Animals
Rudy Ruiz, Valley of Shadows
Carmen Tafolla, Warrior Girl
Katie Gutierrez, More Than You’ll Ever Know
Thomas H. McNeely, Pictures of the Shark
Rubén Degollado, The Family Izquierdo
Jehanne Dubrow, Taste: A Book of Small Bites
Richard Z. Santos, Trust Me
Andrew Porter, The Disappeared
Steve Adams, Remember This
Leticia Urieta, Las Criaturas
Vincent Cooper, Zarzamora
Allison Hedge Coke, Look At This Blue
Tomás Q. Morín, Let Me Count the Ways
Daniel Peña, Bang
Alexander Essbaum’s Hausfrau: A Novel
Carmen Tafolla and illustrator Regina Moya, The Last Butterfly
Laurie Ann Guerrero, I Have Eaten the Rattlesnake
Alexandra van de Kamp, Ricochet Script
Wondra Chang, Sonju
Johnnie Bernhard, Sisters of the Undertow
Barbara Ras, The Blues of Heaven
Mike Soto, A Grave is Given Supper
Deb Olin Unferth, Barn 8
Marisol Cortez, Luz At Midnight
Sergio Troncoso, A Peculiar Kind of Immigrant’s Son
Edward Vidaurre, Pandemia & Other Poems
Octavio Quintanilla, If I Go Missing
Sherry Kafka Wagner, Hannah Jackson
Nan Cuba, Body and Bread
Cliff Hudder, Pretty Enough for You
Rebekah Manley, Alexandra and the Awful, Awkward, No Fun, Truly Bad Dates A Picture Book Parody for Adults
Jenny Browne, Fellow Travelers: New and Selected Poems (TCU Poet Laureate Series)
Amanda Eyre Ward, The Jetsetters
Heather Harper Ellett, Ain’t Nobody Nobody.
Andrea Vocab Sanderson, She Lives in Music
Antonio Ruiz-Camacho: Barefoot Dogs
Wendy Barker: Gloss
Fowzia Karimi: Above Us the Milky Way
Joe R. Lansdale: Edge of Dark Water
Kendra Allen: When You Learn the Alphabet
Emmy Pérez: With The River on Our Face
Kathleen Kent: The Dime & The Burn
David Samuel Levinson: Tell Me How This Ends Well