Rosa Maria Ceballos de Llano was chosen to be the first ever Poet Laureate for the City of Laredo, by the Fine Arts and Culture Commission of Laredo in November of 2020. Mrs. de Llano has been promoting poetry in the city of Laredo as a lifelong educator since she began teaching in 1968. In 1974, Mrs. de Llano organized the first Oral Poetry Contest in Martin High School and along with it, a written Original Poetry Contest. Among her most important honors was having five Martin High School students’ poems published in the Spanish textbook, Persona a Persona, published by McMillan and Co. in 1982. Mrs. de Llano’s poem “Fronteriza Border Woman”, written for the South Texas Writing Workshop in 1997, was chosen by National Public Radio in 2003 to be broadcast nationwide in a program called “Border Voices.” Her poems appear frequently in various local publications and she has been invited to participate in many literary activities, for example, Austin Presbyterian Seminary in November 2019, where she presented The Art of Writing Calaveras to the Austin Audience. 

The Poet Laureate’s purpose is to work with community groups, local schools, libraries, seniors, other literary groups in the City of Laredo to promote programs and projects in literary arts, specifically poetry that should highlight the diversity, uniqueness, and beauty of Laredo.

  • Tuesday, February 08, 2022 at 6:00 PM (Virtual) - Theme: Love and its different  manifestations
  • Tuesday, March 08, 2022 at 6:00 PM – Theme:  Empowering Women and celebrating International Women’s Day
  • Tuesday, April 05, 2022 at 6:00 PM – Theme: Celebrating Shakespeare and Cervantes
    Note: April is designated as National Poetry Month and the Laredo Public Libraries will host a Poetry Festival to commemorate this event.
  • Tuesday, May 03, 2022 at 6:00 PM – Theme: Mother’s Day
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2022 at 6:00 PM – Theme: Father’s Day
  • No programs are scheduled for July and August
  • Tuesday, September 06, 2022 at 6:00 PM – Theme: Reflections of Life on the Borderlands
  • Tuesday, October 11, 2022 at 6:00 PM – Theme: Calaveras, Reflections on Day of the Dead
  • No programs are scheduled for November and December

Refreshments will start at 5:30 p.m. and the program will start promptly at 6:00 p.m. There is a limit of 50 people for in person workshops.

Registration is required. Register below.

“Poetry is everywhere, let’s find it. Poetry is for everyone, let’s enjoy it.” – Rosa Maria Ceballos de Llano

For more information,please contact Roxanne Garza at rgarza1@ci.laredo.tx.us or call (956) 795-2400, x 2526

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