Oscar Mireles Biography

Oscar Mireles (b.1955) has been writing poetry for the past 25 years. He is the editor of two 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) . He produced a chapbook titled 'Second Generation' (Focus Communications,1985) . He has had over 50 poems published in anthologies and magazines including Gathering Place of the Waters: 30 Milwaukee Poets (1983) Revista Chicano-Riquena 'Hispanic Literature in Wisconsin' (1985) , Visions and Voices against Apartheid (1987) Viatzlan, A journal of Arts and Letters (1992) , Dreams and Secrets, Woodland Pattern (1998) , Alt. Literature 2003.

He has received grants for his writing activities from the Wisconsin Arts Board, Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission, Wisconsin Humanities Committee, Wisconsin 150th Sesquiscentennial 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.

Oscar Mireles has done numerous readings at the following institutions: Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI., Randolph Street Gallery, Chicago, Il., The Loft, Minneapolis, MN., Chicago Cultural Center, La Raza Bookstore, Sacramento, CA., Wisconsin Book Festival, Madison, WI., National Association for Chicano Studies, Ypsilanti, MI., University of California, Riverside, Riverside CA., Canterbury Bookstore, Madison, WI and Woodland Pattern, Milwaukee, WI.

Oscar Mireles has received numerous awards for his community service and activism. He was selected as one of the '10 Who Make a Difference' by the Wisconsin State Journal in 2002. He was featured on 'Know your Madisonian' in 1998 by the Wisconsin State Journal. He was nominated as '89 People to Know in 1989 ' according to Milwaukee Magazine. He was selected as the Future Milwaukee Alumni of the Year in 1988, and 'Wisconsin Hispanic Man of the Year' by the United Migrant Opportunity Service (UMOS) in 1988.

He is currently an artist member of the Minds Eye Radio collective, which produces a monthly radio show of spoken word poetry on WORT radio.

Oscar Mireles is currently Principal/Executive Director of Omega School, an alternative school in Madison, Wisconsin and has assisted over 1500 young adults prepare for and complete their GED Diploma in the past decade. He is the father of four children, Diego Jesus, Sergio Andres, Lorena Pilar and Javier Oscar.