Join Mad Swirl this 1st Wednesday of July (aka 07.01.26) when we’ll be doin’ the open mic voodoo that we do at Barbara’s Pavillion!

We will get things started with some musical grooves brought to you by our long standing house band Swirve! (Chris & Tamitha Curiel, Gerard Bendiks). Then, starting at 8pm(ish), hosts Johnny O & MH Clay will set the stage for some open mic madness!

This month Mad Swirl will be featuring legendary Latina poet, Tammy Gomez! Here’s a bit about Tammy:

photo courtesy of Alan Gann

Tammy Melody Gomez is an interdisciplinary artist, writer, and cultural curator whose literary work—essays, poetry, microfiction—has been published in numerous anthologies, including Bikequity: Money, Class, and Bicycling (Microcosm Publishing), Entre Guadalupe y Malinche: Tejanas in Literature and Art (UT Press), and Together in a Sudden Strangeness: America’s Poets Respond to the Pandemic (Knopf). Her film poem, “Trash: Chauvin”, was screened at both CineFestival (San Antonio) and the OC Film Fiesta (Santa Ana, California) in 2021. Profiled in Las Tejanas: 300 Years of History (UT Press), Tammy is a member of the Macondo Writers Workshop.

Tammy curates a monthly virtual poetry reading series titled RECORDANDO POETRY, and also hosts an in-person monthly open mic poetry series, SECOND SUNDAY SPOKEN WORD (SSxSW) at Arts Fifth Avenue in Fort Worth. She has studied improvisation, performance, poetry, and dance with many notable artists, including: Fred Ho, Ruth Zaporah, Kei Takei, Arthur Sze, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Elia Arce, raulrsalinas, Lourdes Portillo, and Richard Blanco.

Tammy directs the all-Latina spoken word/poetry ensemble, MUJERES SIN MIEDO (Women Without Fear), which made their professional debut on the Amphibian Stage for SparkFest 2026 in June.

Sustainability and social justice are deeply embedded in Tammy’s life and art practices.

Come one. Come all.

Come to participate…

(preRSVP at our Facebook event page or send a message to openmic@madswirl.com)

Come to swirlabrate…

(join us LIVE at Barbara’s Pavillion- located at 323 Centre St, Dallas OR watch us on Facebook LIVE)

Come to be a part of this collective creative love child we affectionately call… Mad Swirl Open Mic!