Author Talk with Houston's Poet Laureates In-Person
Join us for a special visit from Houston Poet Laureate Reyes Ramirez and Houston Youth Poet Laureate Kaviya Dhir. Explore their creative journeys, hear their work, and get an inside look at Houston’s vibrant poetry scene. Whether you’re a longtime fan or just curious, it’s a welcoming event for poetry lovers of all ages
This will be an in-person event, free and open to the public, and will be livestreamed on HPL's Facebook page.
- Date:
- Saturday, April 18, 2026
- Time:
- 11:00am - 12:00pm
- Time Zone:
- Central Time - US & Canada (change)
- Location:
- 1st Floor Events
- Campus:
- Central Library, Jesse H. Jones
- Age Group:
- Adults Seniors Teens (13-18 yrs)
- Categories:
- Author Talks / Book Clubs Holidays & Observances Spotlight Events
Reyes Ramirez (he/him) is the 2025 - 2027 Houston Poet Laureate, as well as a writer, educator, curator, and organizer of Mexican and Salvadoran descent. He authored the short story collection The Book of Wanderers (2022), a 2023 Young Lions Fiction Award Finalist, from University of Arizona Press’ Camino del Sol series, the poetry collection El Rey of Gold Teeth (2023) from Hub City Press, a finalist for the 2024 Texas Institute of Letters Award for Best First Book of Poetry, and Cerveza Songs: Houston, TX (2024), a collection of craft beer poetry reviews and photography that is an honor-winner for the Fred Whitehead Award for Best Design of a Trade Book from the Texas Institute of Letters. His latest curatorial project, The Houston Artist Speaks Through Grids, explores the use of grids in contemporary Houston art, literature, history, and politics. Reyes has been honored as a 2020 CantoMundo Fellow, 2021 Interchange Artist Grant Fellow, 2022 Crosstown Arts Writer in Residence, 2023 Intercultural Leadership Institute Fellow, 2023 Dobie Paisano Fellow, 2024 Speculative Play and Just Futurities Fellow and awarded grants from the Houston Arts Alliance, Poets & Writers, and The Warhol Foundation’s Idea Fund.
Kaviya Dhir is the 2025-2026 Houston Youth Poet Laureate and a proud Houstonian. True to her namesake, Kaviya originates from the Sanskrit word for poetry. A 2025 commended Foyle Young Poet, Kaviya first discovered her love for poetry in the local classrooms of Writers in the Schools and J Mark Price’s Writing Workshop. Her work reflects her family’s rich background and experiences—spanning the regions of South America to South Asia—as well as her passion for community service and the commonality of human emotion. She is an alumna of the Adroit Journal Summer Mentorship Program, the Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop, and the Juniper Institute for Young Writers. Her work has appeared in Columbia Journal, the Oxonian Review, Wildness, and elsewhere.