CTN Peer Mentor, Lupe Mendez, the 2022 Texas State Poet Laureate, will kick off a year-long project that celebrates the Lone Star State. His project, the Texas Poetry Roadshow, intends to highlight the ups and downs in all things Texan. It will serve as a celebration and a respite for how changed lives have become during the pandemic. Thematically, this project will look to answer: “Who or what has been silenced? What needs to be uplifted?” The Roadshow is a 3-part project: writing workshops, virtual poetry readings, and an audio anthology.

Eighteen poets have confirmed their commitment to the Roadshow. Each poet will be mixed and matched up with the Texas Poet Laureate to read in a 1.5-hour virtual show. Six cities have been selected for the writing workshops. The first Writing Workshop will take place on May 7th, in Galveston, Texas, at Rosenburg Library.