What a night! 💫
Last Friday, the OLLU community had the honor of celebrating Dr. Octavio Quintanilla, 2025 Texas Poet Laureate and OLLU faculty member, during an evening filled with poetry, reflection, and inspiration.
Dr. Quintanilla read and shared moving selections from his acclaimed collection, The Book of the Wounded Sparrows, offering profound insight into the beauty and resilience found within the written and spoken word. His words reminded us of poetry’s power to connect hearts, challenge minds, and illuminate the human experience. 📚✨
Dr. Octavio Quintanilla, 2025 Texas Poet Laureate, is the author of If I Go Missing, The Book of Wounded Sparrows—longlisted for the National Book Award—and Las Horas Imposibles / The Impossible Hours, winner of the 2024 Ambroggio Prize from the Academy of American Poets. He is also the founder of the VersoFrontera literature and arts festival, publisher of Alabrava Press, and a former Poet Laureate of San Antonio. His visual poems, known as Frontextos, have been exhibited widely across Texas and beyond.
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Quintanilla for sharing his voice, creativity, and presence with the OLLU family. His passion for language and storytelling continues to inspire our students, faculty, and the broader community. 💙🖋️