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Demetria Martinez

デメトリア・マルティネス

Demetria Martinez

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1960-07-10 （Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English, Spanish
Religion
Catholicism
Residence History
Albuquerque, New Mexico (raised) → Tucson, Arizona (worked as editor) → Boston, Massachusetts (teaching)

Career

Occupations
activist, poet, novelist, journalist, editor, teacher
Active Years
1986-2025
Affiliations
National Catholic Reporter (editor), William Joiner Center for the Study of War and Social Consequences (instructor), Enlace Comunitario (associated organization)

Education

Princeton University (Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs)
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs
Degree: BA
Period: 1978–1982
Year of Graduation: 1982
Country: United States
Bachelor of Arts. Graduation year is an estimate based on typical timeline.

Awards

International Latino Book Award (best biography)
2006
Work: Confessions of a Berlitz-Tape Chicana
Category: 最優秀伝記
Organization: Latino Book Awards
Result: winner
Western States Book Award (fiction)
1994
Work: Mother Tongue
Category: フィクション
Organization: Western States Book Awards
Result: winner
Thirteenth Annual Chicano Literary Arts Contest (poetry)
1989
Work: poem "Turning"
Category: 詩
Organization: Chicano Literary Arts Contest
Result: first prize
American Book Award
2013
Organization: Before Columbus Foundation
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Three Times a Woman: Chicana Poetry

1989 poetry

A collection of poems reflecting Chicana identity and experience. Includes the poem "Turning."

Chicana identityidentityimmigrationwomanhood

Mother Tongue

1994 novel (fiction)

A novel exploring language, family, and ethnicity, intersecting Chicana culture with personal history.

languagefamilycultural identity
Translations
  • Spanish translation 'Lengua madre' (1996)

Breathing between the Lines: Poems

1997 poetry

A poetry collection weaving faith, social issues, and personal memory.

faithsocial justicememory

The Devil's Workshop

2002 novel

A novel that includes narrative explorations of power, ethics, and faith.

ethicspowerfaith

Confessions of a Berlitz-Tape Chicana

2005 memoir/essays

A memoir/essay collection reflecting on personal experience, identity, language, and culture.

memoirlanguageChicana culture

The Block Captain's Daughter

novel/essays

Work dealing with neighborhood and family stories (details not specified).

communityfamily

Bibliography

  • Three Times a Woman: Chicana Poetry (1989)
  • Mother Tongue (1994)
  • Breathing between the Lines: Poems (1997)
  • The Devil's Workshop (2002)
  • Confessions of a Berlitz-Tape Chicana (2005)
  • The Block Captain's Daughter

Translations of Works

  • Mother Tongue → Spanish translation 'Lengua madre' (1996)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
political and socially engaged narrationlyrical yet narrative poetic voiceuse of bilingual elements
Recurring Motifs
faith and religionimmigration and sanctuarymotherhood and familylanguage and identitysocial justice

Legacy

Demetria Martinez is recognized as a writer who links Chicana literature with activism, using poetry and fiction to address immigration, faith, and women's experiences, and is regarded as a representative voice of the American Southwest.

Quotes

  • I have called the prosecutors' decision to use my poem as evidence a "major error."
    Source: Arizona Daily Sun, article "Poem freed 'Sanctuary Movement' writer" (2002) (2002)

Trivia

  • In 1988 she was charged in connection with the Sanctuary Movement but was later acquitted.
  • Won first prize in the 13th Chicano Literary Arts Contest for the poem "Turning."
  • Has been involved with editing at the National Catholic Reporter since 1990.