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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).
Manuel González (opens in a new tab) began his three-year appointment as the New Mexico State Poet Laureate in 2025. He is a former Albuquerque Poet Laureate (2016-2018) and is widely respected for his unwavering commitment to community and justice. For more than two decades, González has worked at the intersections of poetry, education, and social change. His leadership has reached detention centers, classrooms, and community spaces throughout New Mexico. As a teacher at the Native American Community Academy, he uses trauma-informed, culturally grounded curricula to empower Indigenous and Chicano youth. He mentors young poets through Brave New Voices and co-founded Low Writing at El Chante: Casa de Cultura, a beloved community workshop that brings intergenerational groups together to write, heal, and build solidarity.
Read the profile of New Mexico State Poet Laureate Manuel González, here. Albuquerque, this is healing, reclamation. We sanctify the soil, We are more than crime statistics. We are San Jose sunrises, Barelas barrio alchemy, Central Avenue gospel painting hope in bold strokes of dawn. The blue light of the magic hour. From Tramway to Old Town's soul, To the west mesa We carry medicine in our stride.
Read the poem, Ritual. Vessel. Volcano. Vision. The coffee shop was unusually packed with regulars for 7 p.m. on a Wednesday. There was a mix of folks, some looking like they’d been there for a while, entire book bags of belongings sprawled across tables. A noticeably larger group—appearing to be recent arrivals—were obviously there for something that would start soon. In short order, the Mega All-Ages (MAS) Poetry Slam host would secure five judges at random from audience members who committed to staying for the duration of the event.
![Illustration of a large, yellow and brown Tyrannosaurus rex with its mouth open, standing on a prehistoric landscape with trees and a cloudy sky in the background. [gen-ai]](https://elpalacio.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Bisti-Beast-scaled-1-400x225.jpg)
BY MANUEL GONZÁLEZ, Albuquerque Poet Laureate Here, in this place we uncover ourselves. Reveal deeper understandings, fossilized discoveries to be recorded, categorized, listed, and stored.
