Oscar Mireles is a published poet and editor. Mireles’ poetry has been published in over 50 different publications. Oscar has been writing poetry for the past 35 years.
Mireles is the editor of three anthologies titled ‘I Didn’t Know There Were Latinos in Wisconsin: 20 Hispanic Poets’ (Focus Communications, 1989) and ‘I Didn’t Know There Were Latinos in Wisconsin: 30 Hispanic Writers’ (Focus Communications, 1999). I Didn’t Know There Were Latinos in Wisconsin: 3 Decades of Hispanic Writing (Cowfeather Press, 2014) He also produced a chapbook titled ‘Second Generation’ (Focus Communications, 1985).
Reviewer Tim Forkes writes ” the compilation stands as not only as a picture of Wisconsin’s Hispanic community… but also the latest of Mireles’ many contributions to society as a whole… he was the fire in the oven”
Oscar Mireles has received grants for his writing activities from the Wisconsin Arts Board, Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission, Wisconsin Humanities Committee, Wisconsin 150th Sesquicentennial Commission, Madison Civic Center Foundation and Wisconsin Center for the Book. He received a fellowship to spend a month at the Vermont Studio Center, an artist colony.
Mr. Mireles was selected as the 6th Poet Laureate of the City of Madison for the years 2016-17.
Published work includes:
- Gathering Place of the Waters: 30 Milwaukee Poets
- Revista Chicano-Riquena ‘Hispanic Literature in Wisconsin’
- Visions and Voices against Apartheid
- Viatzlan, A journal of Arts and Letters
- Dreams and Secrets, Woodland Pattern
- Echolocations, Cowfeather Press
- Telling Tongues Anthology
- Colorlines Magazine
- Capital City Hues
- Madison Times
- Madison365.com
During his tenure, Mr. Mireles has assisted over 3000 young adults with securing a GED/HSED credential. The GED/HSED credential serves as an access point for entry level employment and/or post-secondary education. Mr. Mireles helped establish an endowment for the school and raised funds to purchasing a building and permanent home for Omega School.