The first Dallas Poet Laureate, Joaquín Zihuatanejo, will hold office hours for aspiring poets in the city of Dallas! These sessions are designed to help Dallas poets work on individual poems and to eventually create a poetry manuscript. This is a free opportunity to work with your Dallas Poet Laureate, an award-winning poet with a great deal of writing and publishing experience.

How it works: You email the Dallas Poet Laureate at humanities@dallascityhall.com to schedule an appointment for either 30 minutes or 1 hour. Your email must include the .doc files of the poems you wish to workshop. The poems must be submitted at least four days before your scheduled workshop. If you schedule a 30 minute workshop, we will review and workshop 1-2 poems. If you schedule a one hour workshop, we will review and workshop 2-4 poems. Come prepared with a copy of all of your poems printed out to take notes on.

Who may participate: You must either live in Dallas, teach or go to school in Dallas, work in Dallas, or have a long-standing relationship with a poetry movement, organization, or reading in Dallas.

Cost: Free. There is no charge. Your Dallas Poet Laureate is offering this as a free opportunity for Dallas poets to sit with him and hone their craft.

Alternate days and locations: If the Dallas Poet Laureate’s schedule permits it, you can discuss a different day and different Dallas Public Library for a workshop day and location.

When: Every Wednesday, by appointment only.

Where: The Central Library 3rd Floor, Office of The Dallas Poet Laureate