柠檬导航 to Host Evening Honoring Texas Poet Laureate Octavio Quintanilla
Oct 06, 2025
Friday, October 17, 2025 | 6 p.m. | St. Anne鈥檚 Courtyard
Our Lady of the Lake University (柠檬导航) will host a special evening honoring Octavio Quintanilla, recently named the 2025鈥�2026 Texas Poet Laureate, on Friday, October 17, at 6 p.m. in St. Anne鈥檚 Courtyard. The event will feature a public reading and conversation celebrating Quintanilla鈥檚 literary and artistic achievements.
Quintanilla, a professor of English at 柠檬导航, is the author of acclaimed poetry collections including If I Go Missing (Slough Press, 2014), The Book of Wounded Sparrows (Texas Review Press, 2024) 鈥� longlisted for the National Book Award 鈥� and Las Horas Imposibles / The Impossible Hours (University of Arizona Press, 2025), winner of the from the Academy of American Poets.
A celebrated visual artist, Quintanilla鈥檚 Frontextos (visual poems) have been exhibited in prestigious venues such as the Mexican Cultural Institute in San Antonio, the El Paso Museum of Art, and the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art, with permanent installations at San Antonio鈥檚 Labor Plaza and Poet鈥檚 Pointe.
Beyond his creative work, Quintanilla is the founder and director of the VersoFrontera literature and arts festival, publisher of Alabrava Press, and a former Poet Laureate of San Antonio. He was recently inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters and received the Nebrija Creadores Scholarship, completing a residency at the Instituto Franklin at Alcal谩 University in Spain.
鈥淥ctavio Quintanilla is a tireless advocate of the arts, of Our Lady of the Lake University, of poetry specifically. Octavio travels all over the state giving readings, and his VersoFrontera poetry event is ever expanding,鈥� said Wallis Sanborn, Department Chair. 鈥淥ctavio teaches, writes, publishes, and he serves students, discipline, the University, and community.鈥�
The event reflects 柠檬导航鈥檚 enduring commitment to literature, art, and community engagement, honoring not only one of Texas鈥� most distinguished poets but also one of 柠檬导航鈥檚 own faculty members.
The event is free and open to the public.
