Originally from the Rio Grande Valley (Edinburg), Ricardo Garza has been writing and performing from South Texas to the Bay Area. A prolific writer and performer he has been featured in colleges and High school and middle schools where he has also conducted poetry workshops as part of The Writers Garret’s Writers in the Schools project. Also appearing in print, college radio and public television, Ricardo’s contemplative writings on the common and disenfranchised minority appear in his chapbook, Blood Brother’s y otros Poemas, and spoken word CD, Fiebre del sol.Michael Guinn is co-founder Fort Worth Slams, poet, youth empowerment specialist and motivational speaker.
He holds a master’s degree in social work from the University of Texas at Arlington and worked for six years in Fort Worth as an investigator for the state’s Child Protective Services agency. He has participated in the Zawadi Writers, an ad hoc African-American group that performed and held writing workshops in prisons, inner-city community centers and women’s shelters, and as part of after-school programs. For more on FW Slam and Michael, visit his website www.mikeguinn.com.

Chris Hamilton has been featured at Might Fine Arts Gallery for the Poets on X+ reading series. You can also find him at The Madswirl readings at South Side on Lamar’s Absinthe Lounge. “Listening to Chris is listening to the universal consciousness; it is filled with such energy and passion, much like the Big Bang, an explosion, a slowdown, a retraction, eventually returning to a singularity. He is without a doubt one of the more exciting poets to get to hear if you get a chance, a definite do not miss “-C