Happy Hispanic Heritage Month, SoFried!

We wanted to highlight a few poets from our community in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. Check out their work, contact them directly to interact, and most importantly, show your love and support!

C.L. “Rooster” Martinez is a spoken word poet and educator from San Antonio, TX. He is the author of two poetry books: A Saint for Lost Things (Alabrava Press, 2020) and As it is in Heaven (Kissing Dynamite Poetry Press, 2020). He co-edited Contra: Texas Poets Speak Out (Flowersong Press) and worked as a writer on the 2016 play, American Pride. He received his MA/MFA in Literature, Creative Writing and Social Justice from Our Lady of the Lake University in 2018. You can follow him on IG @roostmtz or his website clmtz.com.

Madeline García aka MaddieG is a proud Afrolatina spoken word artist of Dominican descend. Her life and her culture have given her a perspective that’s loud and clear in her poetry. She has been published in numerous anthologies, enjoys working with the youth in the community. She has been a member of the Verb Bender Slam Team since it’s inception in 2017 and she is proud to be part of the Hampton Roads VA poetry scene.

M.R. “Chibbi” Orduña (he/they) is a Mexican-born, Texas-raised queer poet and actor, the founder of Laredo BorderSlam, a founding member of Write About Now, Director and co-host of the Words and Sh*t virtual talk show and podcast, and 2-time San Antonio Slam Champion. He has self-published 2 books and was the co-editor of the anthology Contra: Texas Poets Speak Out (Flowersong Press, 2020). His work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Texas Review, The Acentos Review, Defunkt, Voices de la Luna, The Latino Book Review Magazine, The Journal of Latina Critical Feminism, Wax Nine, We Are Mitu, George Takei, Button Poetry, and Write About Now. You can follow him on IG @gemineyes and Twitter @gemineyespoetry.

Anna C. Martinez is a civil rights attorney, constitutional analyst, poet, tarot reader, mother and grandmother raised by artists in the lowrider capital of the world, Española, NM. Published in anthologies La Palabra: the Word is Woman, Lowriting: Shots, Rides and Stories from the Chicano Soul, and Buffalo Circles: Conjuring the Buffalo Way along with Matthew Cuban Hernandez and published by Jimmy Santiago Baca/Swimming with Elephants Publications, Anna is currently working with Casa Urraca Press on publishing her first book, Pura Puta, a Poetic Memoir scheduled for release spring, 2022. She has held titles as XXX Haiku City Champ (undefeated), Chicano/a Slam Champ, Mindwell Slam Champ 2019, and has competed at Southern Fried Poetry Slam with teams Rumble Room in 2017, and Mindwell in 2019. Anna is on the board of directors for Burque Revolt Poetry Slam, LLC, works with the arts collective Mothership Alumni to integrate slam poetry into its thriving community of color, and opens her home for free to traveling poets.