Jump to content

Demetria Martinez

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Demetria Martinez
Born (1960-07-10) July 10, 1960 (age 64)
Occupation
  • Activist
  • poet
  • novelist
NationalityAmerican
EducationWoodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs (BA)

Demetria Martinez (born July 10, 1960) is an American activist, poet, and novelist.[1][2]

Early life

[edit]

She was born on July 10, 1960, where she was raised by her grandmother in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is a graduate of Princeton University with BA from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.[1]

In 1988, Martinez was charged with conspiracy for allegedly transporting two Salvadoran women refugees into the United States;[3] she was working as a freelance reporter covering religion and the Sanctuary Movement at the time.[4] She was later acquitted of the charges.[3][5] During the trial, prosecutors used Martinez's poem "Nativity, For Two Salvadoran Women" in an attempt to build a case against her, a decision Martinez has called a "major error."[6]

Career

[edit]

Martinez worked as a religion reporter for the Albuquerque Journal in August 1986.[7]

She has been an editor for the National Catholic Review in Tucson, Arizona, since 1990,[1] and teaches in the annual William Joiner Center for the Study of War and Social Consequences at the University of Massachusetts Boston.[citation needed]

Activism

[edit]

Martinez has been associated with the Sanctuary Movement and with Enlace Comunitario, an Albuquerque-based organization that serves immigrant families experiencing domestic violence.[8]

Awards

[edit]

Published works

[edit]
  • Three Times a Woman: Chicana Poetry (includes the poem "Turning"), Bilingual Press/Review (Tempe, AZ), 1989 ISBN 978-0916950910
  • MotherTongue, Bilingual Press/Editorial Bilingue (Tempe, AZ), 1994, translated into Spanish by Ana Maria de la Fuente and published as Lengua madre, Seix Barral (Barcelona, Spain), 1996 ISBN 978-0345416568
  • Breathing between the Lines: Poems, University of Arizona Press (Tucson, AZ), 1997 ISBN 978-0816517985
  • The Devil's Workshop, University of Arizona Press (Tucson, AZ), 2002 ISBN 978-0816521975
  • Confessions of a Berlitz-Tape Chicana (Chicana and Chicano Visions of the Americas series) ISBN 978-0806137223
  • The Block Captain's Daughter (Chicana and Chicano Visions of the Americas series) ISBN 978-0806142913

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d "Contemporary Authors Online". Biography in Context. Gale. 2004. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  2. ^ Notable Hispanic American Women. Detroit: Gale. 1993.
  3. ^ a b c d Ndegeocello, Me'Shell (2009). "World Literature Today". The poet as political activist: a conversation with Demetria Martinez. Retrieved December 21, 2015 – via Biography in Context.
  4. ^ Levin, Jennifer (July 8, 2016). "The personal is political: readings around town". The Santa Fe New Mexican. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  5. ^ "New York Times". 2 Are Acquitted In Entry to U.S. By Illegal Aliens. 1998. Retrieved December 21, 2015 – via Biography in Context.
  6. ^ Rice, Dan (March 23, 2002). "Poem freed 'Sanctuary Movement' writer". Arizona Daily Sun. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  7. ^ "Martínez, Demetria | Encyclopedia.com". encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  8. ^ "Demetria Martínez". Lannan Foundation.
  9. ^ "Chicana and Chicano Visions of the Americas series".[permanent dead link]
  10. ^ "Books by Demetria Martinez and Complete Book Reviews". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  11. ^ Telgen, Diane (1993). Notable Hispanic American Women, Volume 1. Cengage Gale. pp. https://books.google.com/books?id=dCWqXOE5lmgC&pg=PA258&lpg=PA258&dq=%22chicano+literary+arts+contest%22&source=bl&ots=EQbXtkBYRB&sig=fbQjXR-8G1LEuLiyjVoe2e9be7A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjc7M7h7uDdAhVk6YMKHQ_lBdEQ6AEwBnoECAQQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22chicano%20literary%20arts%20contest%22&f=false. ISBN 9780810375789.
  12. ^ "Demetria Martinez, Author, Activist and Creativity Coach". www.demetriamartinez.com. Retrieved 24 November 2018.