Thom The World Poet

One of the most prolific poets writing today, Thom Moon is an Austinite with a mission, poetry and peace. Author of hundreds of chapbooks and host of Austin's most popular poetry venues such as Expressions and the Hideout, he is known and loved by poets and friends around the world. Thom is on the Board of Directors of Forrest Fest and his yearly sojourn to Lamesa to co-host and MC Forrest Fest is one of the highlights of the festival. Thom will feature at the Austin International Poetry Festival this year and celebrate the annual gathering of International Poets at this venue of which he is a founding member.

John Levacy

John Levacy, Cowboy Poet from Lubbock, Texas, via Lamesa, will present a Cowboy Poetry workshop Saturday afternoon and be a featured poet in the evening venue. Levacy is a musician and member of the group Iron Weed and has been working his lyrical stylings and poetry capturing the life and flavor of the West Texas panorama in authentic cowboy style. With a BA from Texas Tech he has been a volunteer at the National Ranching Heritage Center for 20 years; volunteer at the National Cowboy Symposium for 20 years and a performer there for the last five years. Presenting several programs on Texas History for schools and civic groups as well as solo performances, most of his programs include cowboy poetry.

Dr.Chuck Taylor

Chuck Taylor's writing areas include poetry, short fiction, creative nonfiction, and essay. His teaching areas and interests include creative writing, American Nature Writing, the Beat Movement in American Literature, Southwest Literature, Mexican-American literature, Native American literature, children's film, and alternative small press publishing. Dr. Taylor operates Slough Press, which has published over thirty titles and won numerous awards. From 1980-1988 he operated in Austin, Texas, Paperbacks Plus Bookstore, a center that became recognized throughout the Southwest for it readings, art shows, musical events, and plays. His most recent publication is a set of four poems in Texas In Poetry 2 (TCU Press). He has published story collection and poetry collections, including What Do You Want, Blood? which won the Austin Book Award.

Opalina Salas

A vibrant, passionate, and heartfelt spoken word artist and writer, Opalina Salas harbors the ambition of one day traveling across the U.S. on the open mic circuit, taking part in and contributing to the collective experience shared by all practitioners of the spoken word. To that end, she continues to pursue her art at every opportunity, having become a familiar and well recognized presence in the local literary community since finding her muse in 1995. Included among the venues she has been known to frequent are The Green Room, Rock n Java, Zombies, Café Society, The Donut Lady, and the monthly Mad Swirl open mic hosted by Johnny O at the Absinthe Lounge. As a co-founder of DFW Open Mics, Opalina has been a regular host or co-host at many of the aforementioned venues, as well as a guest interviewee on Mandrake Society Radio in 2007. In 2008, she was one of three featured readers at the ROAR! poetry reading at Paperbacks Plus, where she appeared alongside fellow local luminaries Desmene Statum and Jolee Davis-Cloudy. Opalina's work has been featured online, as well as in a number of literary zines and other print publications. Her publishers have included Death List Five, Literary Tonic, Zombie Book Press, and Johnny O's Mad Swirl, as well as her own Propinquity Press. Rattling Keys and Broken Chords, her fifth and the most recent of her poetry chapbooks, was published in 2007. Born and raised in Texas, Opalina is married to poet and artist Carlos Salas, with whom she has one daughter. She is active as a painter and craftswoman and is currently at work on a novel. -Bio by Peter Orozco from PAO Productions.

Cathy Martin

Cathy S. Martin, a long time supporter of the Forrest Fest, is a singer, songwriter, poet, psychotherapist, counselor, artist, and mother of 2 teenagers. Cathy owns an online travel and shopping business,One Center Travel . and works fulltime as a counselor at the Betty Hardwick Center in Abilene. She has produced the musical, " Lovespell" CD,( Utube-Lovespell) Sea of light- Only Love Prevails" and "One With the Universe" songbook and tape. .Cathy lives on Ft. Phantom Lake and loves connecting with nature through sailing, photography and the mystical side of life. Cathy has an ecllectic outlook of life and has studied Alternative healing modalities and spirituality including Christianity, Astara, shamanism- Munay Ki, Shamanic Touch, Reiki, hypnotherapy, and neurlolinguistic programming.

Connie L.Williams

Texas Woman's University, piano performance; M.A., Angelo State University, English Literature. Williams received the Sigma Tau Delta and Texas Creative Writing Teachers awards for poetry. Her work is included in such journals as Concho River Review, Moon Crossed, mythopoetry and Literary House Review as well as the Austin Chronicles literai section. Featured at Austin International Poetry Festival, the Angelo Writer's Conference, the Poetry Society of Texas, and Langdon Review, she is Director of Forrest Fest, an annual poetry festival in West Texas. Williams may be heard on KACU Abilene Poet's Corner and Tumbleweed Smith's, "Sound of Texas." Williams, is included in Flateau/Rodenburger's Quotable Texas Women and is the creator of Whistling in the Wind, a poetry review heard on KPET radio in Lamesa, Texas.

Jeannie Hutchcraft

Austin social worker for the Department of Human Services, has been a volunteer at Forrerst Fest since our first days of International trafficking (in the arts). Lover of poetry, art, and musicians, Hutchraft has coordinated the many activities of Forrest Fest with the director and participants. Jeannie is the Forrest Fest's answer to Mother Nature. But remember, it's not nice to fool around with Mother Nature.

Candace Samuelson

grew up in middle of the cotton fields of Lamesa, Texas. Born at the old Price & Black hospital in Lamesa, she became a gifted musician, accomanying the Lamesa High School acapella choir, the choir for Midland High School and the UIL program. She earned an Associates Degree in Music and a degree from the University of the South's School of Theology, Swanee, Tennessee. She has been a church organist for twenty years in the Midland, Odessa, Abilene area. Now retired, Samuelson is a songwriter. Her album "Spinning" and composition for "The Mass For The Mysterious Muse," by childhood friend Connie Williams, are her latest works. She is currently litergist at Westminister Presbyterian Church in Abilene, and has three children and two grandchildren.

Steve Brooks

Cross two famous guys named Brooks - Garth and Mel - and you get Austin folksinger Steve Brooks. He's got a song for every occasion, from the sublime to the ridiculous and back. His tunes range from comic commentary and crackerbarrel philosophy to lyrical love ballads and sharp-edged snapshots of Texas and the world.
"Steve is an extraordinary Austin songwriter," says Cyd Wright of Quillen's Coffeehouse. "His songs can be hysterically funny or tearfully sad."
Best-known for writing a song-a-week for Jim Hightower's radio show, his work has been recorded by artists like Kevin So, Emily Kaitz and Slaid Cleaves, who calls him, "A great unsung songwriter of Austin." He's had music in two films and appeared in two more, including the 2004 release "Barbecue: A Texas Love Story."
A master of words as well as music, he was featured on TV's "I've Got a Secret" as six-time World Pun Champion. When he's not in a coffeehouse or a beer joint, you can catch him behind a pulpit, guest-preaching on topics like songwriting and spirituality.
Says Songwriter's Circle magazine, covering Steve at the Kerrville Folk Festival: "The man is Steve Brooks and his mission most of the time: to be the poet, protester, songwriter, activist, political satirist, humorist that he is. No doubt Brooks is one of the most authentically colorful characters in the Kerrville gathering of colorful characters…His color comes out in what he says and what he does - his talk and his walk."
His newest CD, Chasing Grace, produced by Chris Gage, is his first studio album in 14 years. After several albums of political satire, this one delves into the poetic side of his writing, a journey of loss, longing and discovery in the tradition of his favorite Texas singer-songwriters. It was preceded by 2004's BushWhacked and 2003's Fever, which are now available as a single album, Brooks versus Bush. Earlier discs include 1999's Sex, Lies and Videotape,—the best of his Hightower songs—1998's intimate Bulletproof and 1995's country-flavored Purgatory Road. In-between is Mazola, a bootleg set of raunchy barroom ballads.
If there's a common thread to Steve's songs, it's that we can change the world when we look at it from a different angle - or from several angles at once. As Steve puts it - a bit more poetically - "A single new star rearranges a whole constellation."

Roan Inish

ROAN INISH... or... ROAN INISH DAMHSA... Gaelic for ISLAND OF THE SEALS... or... DANCING ISLAND OF THE SEALS... is the newest West Texas Celtic Ensemble to emerge on the South Plains.
With diverse musical backgrounds and Celtic roots... the musicians of ROAN INISH DAMHSA join the ever growing family of Celtic performers on the Llano Estacado.
Since February 2005, ROAN INISH DAMHSA has approached traditional Celtic music with wonderfully inventive arrangements... performing interactive shows to promote the awareness of the Celtic heritage and culture on the South Plains... through traditional Irish and Scottish instrumentals, song, and dance.
Versed in traditional Celtic and Early-American Folk music... this powerful ensemble performs a wide variety of invigorating Irish, Scottish, and American Civil War jigs, slip jigs, reels, slides, slow airs, hornpipes, barn dances, and polkas on traditional and non-traditional instruments... while Irish dancer... KRISTEN WILLIAMSON... displays an array of Irish soft and hard shoe step dancing.
Based in Lubbock, TX... ROAN INISH DAMHSA encourages audience participation... and, WELCOMES patrons to perform on the bodhran (traditional Irish drum) and/or learn Ceili/Ceilidh dances.
On occasion, ROAN INISH DAMHSA weaves in the traditional heroic Irish Revolt ballad or Irish Pub song... throughout a performance.
In December 2007... ROAN INISH DAMHSA welcomed Irish born/English raised American... TOM HURLEY on bodhran... to fill in for our beloved timekeeper and lead singer... ENGLISH DAVE TOBIN... who slipped away peacefully to reside with his lifelong idol BUDDY HOLLY... 28 September 2007.

Oscar C. Pena

Poet, essayist, and jazz musician, Oscar C. Peña was born and raised in Kingsville, Texas. He's been a juried poet at the 2007 and 2010 Houston Poetry Fest and his work has been published in the Austin International Poetry Festival anthology Di-vêrse'-city; Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival anthology Boundless; Forest Fest 2008 Poetry Competition; three editions of the Texas Poetry Calendar and the San Antonio Poetry Fair anthology Voices Along the River. He is the author of "Fire of Thorns", a poetry chapbook.

Oscar hosts the Barnes & Noble 4th Tuesday Poetry Reading Series; Friendswood Library Presents Poetry Night and has served as Master of Ceremonies for Houston Poetry Fest's Out of Bounds. He's also presented his work to high school and college students and performed his poetry at venues throughout Texas.

Oscar resides in League City, Texas with his wife Debbie.

Bob Mud

Bob Mud has a background in education as a teacher of English, art and drama. He is an accomplished author and illustrator and is famously known for his Mud Art: a combination of his renowned love of the environment infused with creativity. Bob now works as an artist, musician and poet.

Christopher Carmona

hails from the Rio Grande Valley in Deep South Texas. He is beat poet following in the tradition of beat poets like Jack Kerouac, Bob Kaufman, and Raul Salinas. His work also explores what it means to be Chicano and how reconnecting to our indigeneity is important. Connecting with not only the indios of Mexico and South America, but also Native Americans in the U.S. as well. He believes in practicing poetry as a form of social resistance. Much of his work works to redefine what poetry means to the Chicano and beat community. He is currently pursuing his PhD at Texas A&M University. He has been published in The Writers' Block, Beatlick Art & News, World Audience Literary Journal, Tecolote, and La Bloga. He has published a chap book called My (Mex)quite Beat Refried Revolution by Slough Press. His first book of poetry entitled beat is due out in 2011, also by Slough Press. Currently he is editing an anthology of Beat Texas writings for UT Press with Chuck Taylor and Rob Johnson. He has been part of the Savory Perks Reading Series, the Narcisco Martinez Cultral Arts Poetry Reading Circle, the reading series for Wordspace in Dallas, the Prairie View A&M University Reading Series, and the Lunada: Aullidos a La Madre Luna at the Café Citlali in San Antonio. He is also currently working on a second chap book titled I Have Always Been Here dealing with the issues of immigrant currently and how we are Chicanos have always been here before conquest and even today we exist as a people that transcend borders and nationalism. "On our earth, before writing was invented, before the printing press was invented, poetry flourished. That is why we know poetry is like bread; it should be shared by all, by scholars and by peasants, by all our vast, incredible, extraordinary family of humanity." -Pablo Neruda

Daniel Ramos

Epic: Poet of the Concrete Generation, has been writing since as long as he could remember. Picked up poetry in high school, and soon after gradutating, started the Amarillo, TX chapter of poetry slam. Since then, SLAMarillo has sent 3 teams to Nationals, and a youth team to the Brave New Voices competition. Epic has performed in venues from New Mexico to Wisconsin to North Carolina. Now back in his hometown of Midland, TX, he's building a poetry community once again. His writing is brutally honest, and his performances come through beautifully broken. Ramos is currently President of the Permian Basin Poetry Society.

Sadaqah

Founded by Beth Beaver in 1996, Sadaqah is an ensemble of friends. Sadaqah is a word that means "friendship" in several middle-eastern languages. It has also come to represent an ideal of good will and mutual respect that transcends languages, cultures and borders. A unique group of musicians gather under the banner of Sadaqah to bring their talent and message to a world hungry for peace and harmony, not to mention fun! The music of Sadaqah takes you on a journey of the Silk Road and the caravan routes of Ancient Arabia. Sadaqah blends music of Greece, Turkey and the Arabic Countries. They present music of the Armenian, Kurdish, Hebrew people including music from Andalusia. Each musician is well versed in this genre and brings his or her own background of traditional western music, flamenco or folk styles to the mix.

Ric Williams

December 2007 – Robert Bonazzi, critically acclaimed author and Poetic Diversity Columnist for the San Antonio Express-News, announced Ric Williams' the secret book of god as the best book of poetry by a living Texas poet in his 2007 Poetic Diversity Awards. These awards intend to bring recognition to significant books that have been overlooked. Previous winners of the Poetry in Texas award are Paul Christensen (Hard Country, Thorp Springs Press) and Naomi Shihab Nye (You & Yours, BOA Editions, Ltd.). Bonazzi praises Williams' ability to take "the lyrics into intuitive depths" and the way that he "strokes colors with a vivid sensuality." Bonazzi calls the poems "passionate," and he finds in them both celebration and the author's own self-critique. Ric Williams was born in Arkansas in 1952. He began acting and writing early and has been interested in the slippery nature of consciousness ever since. He received his master's degree in mythology with an emphasis in depth psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute in 1998. Ric has edited the Litera listings of The Austin Chronicle since 1988. He wrote the "Poet's Beat" column (interviews with local poets) for The Austin Light from 1987-1991. He edited for Ed Buffalo's poetry anthologies Aileron and Vowel Movement in the late 80′s and early 90′s and was the associate editor from 1997-1999 for Alchemy on Sunday, the literary journal of Pacifica Graduate Institute. He has written and/or edited for the Austin Chronicle, Man! Magazine, and the Salt Journal. His interview with Larry McMurtry is included in Conversations with Texas Writers, published in March 2005 by UT Press. Ric's first solo collection of poems, the secret book of god, can be found at www.daltonpublishing.com. "I don't know" is often the wisest thing he has ever said. Yet, he believes the universe is, ultimately, a comedy and wants you to know that, despite any thing you may have heard to the contrary, "You matter. You will always matter."

Ken Jones

Ken Jones has been a published poet for over 20 years in academic and underground journals, magazines, anthologies, websites and other forums. He has given readings of his original work since college at bars, bookstores, coffeehouses, conferences, and other venues. He earned an MA in English/Creative Writing from the University of Texas at Austin and is a full-time faculty member at the Art Institute of Houston, teaching Creative Writing among other subjects, His collection Unutterable Blunders and Palace Disasters was published by PlainViewPress in 2006. Ceaselee Greaspaint in Combat Stance Published by Slough Press in 2007

Mark Carver

Marc Carver was born in 1966 in Erith, England. He has worked in a variety of jobs and lived in Germany for three and a half years while he was serving in the Army. When he came out of the army he spent a long time drifting from one job to another. He has been writing for about fifteen years but only seriously for about the last year. Before, he wrote mostly fiction and has written a couple of books as yet unpublished. Now he concentrates exclusively on his poetry. When not writing or editing his work, he is performing it. He has a large amount of venues, mainly in London where he performs his poetry and has a slot at an arts centre in London. Now that he has finished his first book, he is looking forward to a second. Mainly because he has crystallized a form a style of writing that is not exclusively his but one that is one he is very happy with. You will probably be able to tell, if you look hard enough at the poems which are, in his words the end of the journey. The most important thing for him is that you enjoy his work, come and see him perform and buy more of his books so he can write more and you can read more.

Trevor Wainwright

Based in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England, former Fire-fighter Trevor Wainwright (Trev) began writing IN1989 as a means of recording his time and events with his colleagues in The local fire service. He has appeared with the Yorkshire Arts Circus (YAC) following using poetry in deaf sign language and later he took part in YAC writing and reciting events. He is author of a modern religious mystery play set in his home town of Castleford and pioneered the first ever Hospital Radio AIDS and ME Awareness Show he has also contributed to T he Samaritans, the Kosovan War victims and even done a poetry slam for Amnesty International. 2012 will be his second appearance at the Forrest Fest,

This template is also available as a WordPress theme at Free WordPress Themes.