Joaquín Zihuatanejo

Joaquín Zihuatanejo is the proud descendant of migrant field workers. In 2022, Joaquín was named the inaugural Dallas Poet Laureate for the city of Dallas, and recently the Academy of American Poets presented him with their National Laureate Fellow Award that comes with a $50,000 prize for the good work he has done in his city as a poet laureate.

The second sentence is not greater than the first sentence. The second sentence would not be possible without the first.

Joaquín Zihuatanejo was born and raised in Old East Dallas. An award-winning teacher and World Poetry Slam Champion, Joaquín credits his abuelo, the first person to place a book in hands and challenge him to read aloud, as his largest poetic influence.

Joaquín is the author of six collections of poetry including his last collection, Arsonist, which won the Robert Dana-Anhinga Prize for Poetry. His next collection, Occupy Whiteness, is due out in February of 2024 from Deep Vellum Books.

Joaquín is the only poet on the planet to win the Individual World Poetry Slam Championship held in North America and the World Cup of Poetry Slam Championship held in Paris, France, making him for a time the number one ranked slam poet on the planet.

Equally comfortable on a TED stage or in a high school auditorium, Joaquín makes his living by traveling to universities, high schools, middle schools, and literary conferences all over the country bringing his message of hope and salvation through poetry to audiences of all ages. Joaquín's manic presentation which never sacrifices substance for style has been called by critics, "a verbal display of fireworks that leaves audiences breathless and on the edge of their seats."

Joaquín has two passions in his life, his wife Aída and poetry. Always in that order.