Daniel García Ordaz, a.k.a. The Poet Mariachi, a Texas-based teacher and writer from McAllen, is an emerging voice in Mexican American poetry. García has an MFA in Creative Writing from The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. He is also a songwriter, former journalist, photographicationisticator, and word-maker-upper. García appears in the documentary, "ALTAR: Cruzando fronteras/Building bridges." His new book, Centzontle/Mockingbird: Songs of Empowerment, was released in 2018. He was born in Houston and raised in Mission, Texas.

García was one of five authors and the only poet chosen to participate in the Texas Latino Voices project in 2009 by the Texas Center For The Book, the state affiliate of the Library of Congress. He has also been a featured reader at numerous literary events, including the Dallas International Book Fair. He is a founder of the Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival and served in the U.S. Navy as a Hospital Corpsman. García Ordaz lives in the Rio Grande Valley of deep South Texas with his wife, Gina, and their children where he continues to teach write, sing, and spend time in front of a crowd.