Poetry in Dangerous Times: From Witness to Resistance with Demetria Martínez & Dr. Norma E. Cantú

Sat, Oct 2
10am – 3pm CT, In-person at Gemini Ink
Nonmember: $125; Member: $108; Student/Educ/Mil: $88
*EARN CPEs; SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE

The practice of poetry, both as readers and writers, is crucial during times of injustice when our creative voices are the only tool we have to demand change. 

During this one-day retreat, we will explore poets who have not only borne witness to injustice, but who have done so from a place of hope and resistance–including Joy Harjo, Martin Espada, Assata Shakur, Hiba Abu Nada, Daisy Zamora, William Stafford and Susan Sherman among others. We will also read Demetria’s poem, “Nativity: For Two Salvadoran Women.” Join us as we build a “portfolio” of work to sustain and nourish our vision and activism in these times. 

Students will be invited to read their work at a Hispanic Heritage Month 2026 reading and open mic featuring                                               Demetria Martínez and Dr. Norma Cantú the fol                                                                                                   lowing day.

This course is open to writers of all skill levels, 18+. 

Students will leave this course with:

• Strategies for using poetry as a tool of resistance
• A small collection of poetic pieces 
• An opportunity to share their writing at a reading the next day
  

Demetria Martínez is a poet, writer and immigrant rights activist born and raised in Albuquerque.  Her most recent book, Poetry in Dangerous Times: Two Women, Two Worlds, was coauthored with Susan Sherman and published by Casa Urraca Press. It opens with a dialogue about art and activism among other topics and follows with a selection of poetry. Martínez’s other books include the widely translated novel, Mother Tongue (Ballantine), set in New Mexico during the Sanctuary Movement.  The book was inspired by her 1987 indictment on charges of conspiracy against the United States in connection with allegedly transporting Central American refugees into the country. Martínez, a religion reporter covering the Movement for the National Catholic Reporter and the Albuquerque Journal, was facing a potential 25 years in prison. She was tried and acquitted on First Amendment grounds—but not before the government attempted to use her poetry against her. Her other books include collections of poetry, short stories and columns. She is the recipient of a Luis Leal Award for Distinction in Chicano/Latino Literature, an American Book Award and an International Latino Book Award. Martinez facilitates retreats, Poetry in Dangerous Times: From Witness to Resistance. She lives with her wife, their hens and goats, in La Cienega, New Mexico. 

Award winning poet and author, Dr. Norma Elia Cantú was born in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas to a Tejana mother and a Mexicano father. She began her academic career over fifty years ago as a  teaching assistant at what is now Texas A&M University, Kingsville, where she earned her MA in English. She earned a Ph.D. in English from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and taught at what is now Texas A&M International University in Laredo, at the University of Texas, San Antonio and the University of Missouri, Kansas City. She was at the National Endowment for the Arts in the Folk and Traditional Arts Program, and she was a visiting Director of the Chicano Studies Research Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She currently serves as the Norine R. and T. Frank Murchison Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Trinity University in San Antonio, where she teaches courses in Latinx Studies, Folklore, and Creative Writing. Her creative writing focuses on the US-Mexico Border and includes her novels Canícula and Cabañuelas as well as a poetry collection, Meditación fronteriza. She has edited and coedited over twelve anthologies. Her most recent publication is the anthology Chicana Portraits: Critical Biographies of Twelve Chicana Writers.