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For over a century, El Palacio has been a forum for voices exploring New Mexico’s art, archaeology, history, and landscape. Explore the writers, photographers, historians, and scientists whose perspectives have defined the magazine’s pages—past and present.
Arthur Sze is the current U.S. Poet Laureate. Sze is a poet, translator, and editor. He is the author of twelve books, including Into the Hush, Sight Lines, and others. Sze’s poems have been translated into fifteen languages, and he is the recipient of the National Book Award among many other honors. He lives in Santa Fe.
Deborah Jackson Taffa is a citizen of the Quechan Nation and Laguna Pueblo. Her memoir Whiskey Tender was a 2024 National Book Award Finalist and was longlisted for the 2025 Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. Taffa serves as the director of the MFA in creative writing program at the Institute of American Indian Arts.
Cara Romero is an award-winning contemporary fine art photographer. An enrolled citizen of the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, Romero’s expansive oeuvre has been informed by formal training in film, digital, fine art, and commercial photography. She maintains a studio in Santa Fe, regularly participates in Native American art fairs, and was featured in PBS’ Craft in America (2019).
Gary Cozzens is a former site manager for Lincoln Historic Site. A native New Mexican, Gary grew up in Portales where he attended Eastern New Mexico University with a double major in History and Political Science. Following college, he served as an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps with a total of twenty-four years of service, including Operation Desert Storm. He retired as a Major in 1999. He is the former president of the Lincoln County Historical Society, former board member of Fort Stanton Inc., former assistant coordinator of the Lincoln County Site Watch, and current member of the Historical Society of New Mexico.
![A bullet hole with shattered glass is set in a weathered wall. A sign above reads: Legend has it that this hole was put here by a bullet from Billy the Kid’s six-shooter when he escaped. [gen-ai]](https://elpalacio.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/A-Parting-Shot_2-400x225.jpg)
At Lincoln Historic Site, theories have a way of coming out of the woodwork. BY GARY COZZENS On April 28, 1881, William H. Bonney, aka Billy the Kid, arguably made the most famous jail escape in New Mexico history. Bonney was confined in the old Murphy-Dolan Store, which had been purchased by Lincoln County five months before and was being converted into the county courthouse.
![Close-up view of a large, cracked fossil with several overlapping layers and horn-like structures, displayed on a metallic surface. [gen-ai]](https://elpalacio.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/New-Life-for-an-Old-Pot_2-400x225.jpg)
BY GARY COZZENS It must have been a good year for the Jornada Mogollon farmer tending his field along Rio Bonito, in south-central New Mexico. That year was about AD 1400, and the farmer had enough corncobs to fill an oversized ceramic storage vessel with the fruits of his labor. [wonderplugin_slider id="91"] (more…)
