Recently named one of 30 Poets in their 30’s to watch by MUZZLE magazine, Jessica Helen Lopez is a nationally recognized award-winning poetry slam champion, and holds the title of 2012 Women of the World (WOW) City of ABQ Champion. She’s also a member of the Macondo Foundation. Founded by Sandra Cisneros, it is 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. She is the founder of La Palabra – The Word is a Woman collective created for and by female writers and artisans. Please visit the website. Lopez is also a 2012 Ted Talk speaker and her talk, Spoken Word Poetry that Tells HERstory. Currently, Lopez is a top twenty finalist for the independent press Write Bloody book award 2013.  You may find some of my Lopez’s work at these sites—LaPalabra.abqnorthwest.com, thebakerypoetry.com, and asusjournal.org.