Jessica Helen Lopez

Jessica Helen Lopez was recently named the City of Albuquerque Poet Laureate and is a nationally recognized award-winning slam poet, holding the titles of 2012 and 2014 Women of the World City of ABQ Champion. She is a member of the Macondo Foundation founded by Sandra Cisneros, an association of socially engaged writers united to advance creativity, foster generosity, and honor community. Her first collection of poetry, Always Messing With Them Boys (West End Press, 2011) made the Southwest Book of the Year reading list and was also awarded the Zia Book Award presented by NM Women Press. Her second collection of poetry, Cunt.Bomb, is published by Swimming with Elephants Publication (2014). She was a featured writer in “30 Poets in their 30s” by Muzzle magazine.

Lopez is the founder of La Palabra—The Word Is a Woman collective created for and by women and gender-identified women. Her 2012 TED Talk, “Spoken Word Poetry that Tells HERstory,” can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1QGpJL2zXQ. Lopez’s work can be found at thebakerypoetry.com, newmexicomercury.com, and asusjournal.org. Her work has been anthologized in A Bigger Boat: The Unlikely Success of the Albuquerque Slam Scene (UNM Press), Earth Ships: A New Mecca Poetry Collection (NM Book Award Finalist she was also a coeditor), Tandem Lit Slam (San Francisco), Adobe Walls, Malpais Review, SLAB Literary Magazine, Courage Anthology: Daring Poems for Gutsy Girls (Write Bloody Press) and Learn then Burn: A Modern Poetry Anthology for the Classroom (Write Bloody Press, 2nd ed.). Lopez is the volunteer coordinator and planning member for the Poetry Slam Incorporated (PSI) 2015 Women of the World National Poetry Slam Tournament to be hosted in Albuquerque. She is a book reviewer for World Literature Today magazine.