The first pieces of writing I shared with the world were included in performances with the Cultural Diversity Player’s Group at Ithaca College where I received a BA in Spanish with minors in French and Italian.  Being multilingual was a means to communicate cross-culturally.  Before I dedicated myself to art, I worked in international exchange and had the opportunity to study, live and travel in over twenty different countries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas.

My writing was again adapted for the stage when I was a member of Teatro Luna, Chicago’s all-Latina theatre ensemble.  Through this medium I explored issues about race, not just from without, but also from within the Latino community.  I wrote about poverty, demonstrating how necessity forces families to put every member to work despite child labor laws.  I also revealed how economic challenges strain familial relationships.

I now hold an MFA in English and Creative writing from Mills College in Oakland, California.  For 2008, I was awarded a writing residency at Hedgebrook and a Fulbright
Fellowship in literature to the Dominican Republic. My work has been featured in Colorlines Magazine, The Womanist, and the Seal Press anthology, Homelands: Women’s Journeys through Race, Place and Time. In addition, I participated in the Terror? exhibit at the Intersection for the Arts in San Francisco with a poem selected to promote the event on KPFA’s Full Circle.

© 2007 Erika Martínez