How a Civilization Begins is a poetry collection that “blends current events and personal anecdotes with memory and the secret knowledge that is evident when we are able to access the intersections of experience and cultural clarity,” writes Margaret Randall.
How a Civilization Begins is “about being human and aware at a time when, collectively, we march willingly or are being dragged kicking to the brink. I no longer idealistically/naively think my poems can “change the world.” Each one is a mirror I hold up for you to gaze into. You may
like what you see. Others will not. I can only suggest you plug yourself in before it’s too late,” says Vargas.

Richard Vargas earned his B.A. at Cal State University, Long Beach, where he studied under Gerald Locklin and Richard Lee. He edited/published five issues of The Tequila Review, 1978- 1980, and twelve issues of The Más Tequila Review from 2010-2015. Vargas received his MFA in Creative Writing from the University of New Mexico, 2010. He was recipient of the 2011 Taos Summer Writers' Conference Hispanic Writer Award. He was on the faculties of the 2012 10th National Latino Writers Conference and the 2015 Taos Summer Writers' Conference. Published collections: McLife, 2005; American Jesus, 2009; and Guernica, revisited, 2014. He currently resides in Wisconsin, near the lake where Otis Redding's plane crashed.

Oscar Mireles is a published poet, editor, and a long standing community leader.

Oscar has been writing poetry for the past 45 years and has been published in over 50 different publications. Mr. Mireles was selected as the 6th Poet Laureate of the City of Madison (and first Latino Poet Laureate) for 2016-2020.

The numerous awards and recognition Oscar has received include State of Wisconsin Outstanding Educator Award, Wisconsin Hispanic Man of the Year, and 15 Most Influential Leaders in Dane County. He was selected as a national recipient of the NY Life "Love in Action' award in 2020 and his organization received a $50,00 grant.

Oscar has also been the Executive Director of Omega School for the past 28 years, which provides GED preparation and adult basic education services for young adults in Dane County.  During his tenure, he has personally assisted over thousands of students with earning a high school credential.

Poet, essayist, and educator Dana Maya was born and lives in what Américo Paredes called "Greater Mexico"—a space crossing national, cultural, linguistic, & creative borders. She was educated at Vassar College & the University of Texas at Austin, with an orientation in Chicanx literature & culture, Queer Studies, & Race Studies. She has taught literature & writing at UT Austin, Madison College, public schools, & community organizations, collaborates with artists on projects for social change, & is a member of the Spontaneous Writing Booth Collective. Her poems and essays have garnered awards and appear in anthologies, journals, buses, stages, museums, memorial sites, and other public spaces. In 2022-2023, she will be a writer-in-residence in the Madison public schools as part of an initiative of the Arts +Literature Laboratory and the Greater Madison Writing Project.

Livestream: Richard Vargas, Oscar Mireles & Dana Maya