Quattrocento: Simone Martini & Lippo Memmi The Annunciation "Sometimes I want words painted from my mouth to yours." from "Savor, Harvest" by Valerie Martínez

Born and raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico, I received my B.A. in English from Vassar College and an M.F.A. in Poetry from the University of Arizona. Before joining the faculty at New Mexico Highlands University, I taught at the University of Arizona and then spent three years in Swaziland (southern Africa). During that time, I was editing, along with Joy Harjo and Gloria Bird, an anthology of writing by indigenous women of North America.

In Swaziland, I was the principal and 3rd grade teacher of an elementary school for a time, then moved to a sugar plantation and taught English at the local high school as well as in another rural school on the periphery of the cane fields. All my students in Swaziland were Zulus, Swazis, or "mixed race" (as they call it in southern Africa) and I was lucky enough to live in or near Swazi villages and work with native teachers.

I am a poet, teacher, editor and translator (from Spanish). When I am not occupied with these, I am traveling and have been fortunate enough to spend time in a number of different countries. All of these vocations and avocations nurture and inspire my creative and teaching work. For these reasons, I have a particular interest in world literature and cultures.

Teaching Emphases and Scholarly Interests

Poetry (in English and Translation), Poetics, Contemporary Native American Literature, Literature of the Southwest, Translation from the Spanish, World Literature

Courses Commonly Taught

Introduction to Poetry, Creative Writing (Poetry), Composition, Literary Criticism

Recent Publications

Touching the Fire, an anthology of Latino poetry, five poems. Forthcoming by Doubleday, 1997.

Best American Poetry, 1995: poem "It is Not". Eds. Rich & Lehman. Norton, 1996.

Prairie Schooner, poems "Absence, Luminescent," "Nocturne," "It is Not," "Tesoro," "Prayer" and "Outside: Winter Solstice"

in two issues, '93 and '94.

Puerto del Sol, poem "And Seeing It", 1992.

Reinventing the Enemy's Language: An Anthology of Writing by Indigenous Women of North America. Norton, 1997.

Lilies of the Flesh: The Selected Poems of Delmira Agustini, translations, forthcoming.