Mild-mannered Steve Brooks, a folksinger/humorist with the energy of a Texas twister and eclectic songs that range from the sublime to the ridiculous and back. He never loses his sense of fun, even when touching the most serious subjects.
http://www.stevebrooks.net/
Performance Poet extraordinaire and host of Austin's Expressions Venue, this Australian born bard is a dymnamic and energetic voice among Texas poets.
Go to Thoms Site
A visionary artist and prophetic poet, Kathleen Romano is a serious spokeswoman among today's contemporary voices.
http://www.moonodyssey.info
Experienced as an actor performing in "Precious Lord," a gospel drama, Miller released his first collection of poetry in April 2002, entitled Nightdreams and Daymares: Introspection from the Inner City (Blackberry Books). The collection offers a "no holds barred" look at the fears and realities of inner-city life.
http://www.ivanhopoet.com/
Larry D. Thomas
A former Midlander who now lives and writes in Galveston and Houston, has published three collections of poems: The Lighthouse Keeper Amazing Grace are among those. He is the recipient of the 2001 Texas Review Poetry Prize and the 2004 Texas Review Poetry Award.
Cathy a Licensed professional counselor in Abilene, Texas, invites audience participation, adults and children as dancers and guitar players in her traveling portable tie dyed musical. Her voice ranges from country to folk and Native American themes. Visit Cathy at http://www.sacreddreamers.com
Darren Poyzer, from Manchester, England, guest of Forrest Fest in 2002 will return this year. Darren has released two CDs and is host of many events in Great Britain. He may be reached at http://www.poyzer.co.uk/
John Boswell was born in Oregon and raised in Lamesa. where he led the Golden Tornado Band onto the field on Friday nights through high school. He is a Texas Tech Graduate with a Bachelor Music Ed., a former Navy frogman with Underwater Demolition Team ELEVEN, Viet Nam Vet, Apollo Ten Space Module Recovery, CLEARWATER Crew Member, PADI Scuba Instructor, Aquatics enthusiast/love swimming and diving, shantyman, traveller, and active on-the-road folksinger/songwriter for the past 27 years. John has one 1 LP album...The Friendship Album and 1 CD...Passing Through. He plays guitar and sings live folk music having performed in all 50 states USA plus 4 Canadian provinces and parts of Central Europe.He performsThursday nights at J&Bs Coffee House, Lubbock, Texas. Visit John at http://geocities.com/bozfolkforever/singtruth.html
Morgan O’Donnell of Denton, Texas is editor of Muse Squared - http://www.muse2.com, a quarterly journal of poetry and visual art. She has published essays and poetry in the Stars and Stripes, Army Times, Poet’s Review, Red River Review, Amarillo Bay, and Potomac Review.
Peggy Zuleika Lynch, the founder of Poetry in the Arts, Inc., is widely regarded as the "Grand Dame" of poetry in Texas. The author of eight books of poetry, she has been published in the US, Italy, India, Canada, edited 15 anthologies, including Behold Texas, an anthology of Texas poetry by Texas poets that was the only poetry book selected by the City of Austin, Texas, for inclusion in the Centennial Time Capsule to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the University of Texas; and the classic collector's item, From Hide and Horn, a sesquicentennial anthology of poetry about 150 years of the Texas state of mind. She has received three Pushcart Prize nominations, and her awards include the honor of being knighted a Dame of Grace by the Knights of Malta, World Congress of Poets Lifetime Achievement Award and Poet Laureateship , Houston Poetry Fest Literary Arts Award, Poetry Society of Texas Hilton Ross Greer Outstanding Service Award, Stephen Gill International Peace Award for Poetry. Ms. Lynch reads and lectures in the United States, France, Italy, Switzerland, Canada, and Puerto Rico, and is the Poet Laureate and permanent Poet-in-Residence at the Paris American Academy, Paris, France. She is listed in the Vista Who's Who of North American Poets, and Who's Who: Autobiographical Sketches of Poets, Writers and Publishers.
Julie Clark is recipient of Howard Colleges' "Thistles" essay award and founding hostess of "The Loft," a poetry venue which meets at J&B Coffee House in Lubbock, Texas, on Friday nights. Julie will MC the Saturday events at Forrest Fest this year.
English and Spanish blend together as Dr. Gregorio Pedroza shares the experiences of growing up in a barrio in Texas in a large extended family with grandparents who spoke only Spanish, and working in the Texas fields. Greg attained his Ph.D. degree in Chemistry and has been an international technical and motivational speaker for over twenty years. As an author he has published a book of poetry, My Glow Days, which tells how he copes with chronic pain.
http://www.gpedroza.com
Van LeBus is a primitive folk artist living in Abilene, Texas. His studio is at the Center for Contemporary Arts in downtown Abilene. Van's work, often referred to as "outsider" or "naive," has been exhibited in museums from Dallas to San Antonio. His re-cycled jewelry made from items such as jewels from antique watches and discarded ivory piano keys is a popular part of his collection. He is included in the Smithsonian Institutes' Tour Catelog.
http://cca-abilene.org/
Buchanan has been a computer consultant in Odessa for 30 years. He read some of his poetry at last years Forrest Fest and will read again this year including a poem written by his grandson, Micheal Scott, from Battle Mountain, Nevada. Cliff also has a new digital camera and will be taking lots of pictures this year, be ready to smile and say "cheese."
Jim serves currently as Executive Director of Poetry in the Arts, Inc. He is a member of the Poetry Society of Texas, the Massachusetts Poetry Society, the Austin Poetry Society and on the board of directors of the Austin International Poetry Festival. Jim considers himself an international gypsy as he was raised in a career military family.
http://www.poetryinarts.org
Erik Teixeira. was born in Peterborough, New Hampshire and grew up in Albuqueruqe, New Mexico. He received a Bachelor's Degree of Science in Electrical Engineering and cofounded the band, The Nisa. He lives in Austin and is a full time guitarist.