OM.2026.074 - Scott Wiggerman - USA

OM.2026.074 - collage on panel - 8 x 8 inches - Poetry - Scott Wiggerman  -  USA - Visual Poetry and Color

 Scott Wiggerman (born September 15, 1954) is an American poet, master editor, publisher, and painter based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Deeply embedded in the literary and visual subcultures of the American Southwest, Wiggerman's multi-layered career seamlessly intersects precise poetic structures with abstract, tactile visual arts, exploring themes ranging from ornithology to regional landscapes. [1, 2, 3]

An overview of his artistic evolution, publishing history, and community footprint includes:

Dos Gatos Press and Publishing Leadership

• The Foundation: In 2004, Wiggerman and his husband, David Meischen, co-founded Dos Gatos Press while living in Austin, Texas, before permanently relocating the operations to Albuquerque in 2015. The non-profit press serves as a critical independent vehicle for archiving and promoting poetry from Texas, New Mexico, and the broader Southwestern United States. [1, 2]
• Wingbeats Teaching Manuals: He co-edited the celebrated masterclasses-in-print volumes Wingbeats: Exercises and Practice in Poetry and Wingbeats II. These texts compile writing methodologies from dozens of poets nationwide, serving as standard foundational layout manuals in creative writing classrooms across the country. [1, 2]
• Regional Anthologies: Under the Dos Gatos Press imprint, he has orchestrated highly sought-after regional anthologies, such as Weaving the Terrain: 100-Word Southwestern Poems, Bearing the Mask: Southwestern Persona Poems, and Lifting the Sky: Southwestern Haiku & Haiga. [1]

Acclaimed Poetry Collections and Form Mastery

• Core Monographs: Wiggerman is the author of four notable poetry collections: Vegetables and Other Relationships (2000), Presence (2011), Leaf and Beak: Sonnets (2015)—which was a finalist for the Texas Institute of Letters' Helen C. Smith Memorial Award—and his collection, Beginning and Ending with Emily: Ghazals and Golden Shovels. [1, 2]
• Structural Innovation: His books demonstrate a profound mastery of rigid, classical, and inventive literary architecture. He regularly utilizes traditional sonnets, short-form haiga and haibun, and complex Middle Eastern ghazals to capture fleeting everyday details. [1, 2, 3]

Visual Art Style: Textures and Landscapes

• The Painter's Perspective: Beyond the written page, Wiggerman maintains an active fine-art studio practice. His visual art portfolio utilizes multi-media collage, ink illustrations, and intricate texturing to visually convey the same intense focus on observation found in his poems. [1, 2]
• Gallery Presence: His physical abstract paintings and mixed-media compositions are showcased across regional creative spaces, including collaborative features in Albuquerque’s celebrated Mariposa Gallery. 
• Community Leadership: Bridging text and public spaces, Wiggerman serves as the head of the ABQ-Haiku chapter and co-organizes the annual Albuquerque Poets' Picnic at the Open Space Visitor Center, driving sensory and artistic literacy across New Mexico.