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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).
Julio Estevan Mendez (opens in a new tab) grew up on the West Side of Albuquerque, New Mexico in the ’90s. He is a poet and three-time alumnus of the National Hispanic Cultural Center’s Voces Writing Institute.
By Julio Estevan Mendez ¿Quien lo cura? ¿Quien lo cura? I lost all sense of identity and gained a false sense of pride; what I got left with was a bunch of… duda. My doubts became manifest, taking advantage of my insecurities. I let the devil rule and make the fool of what I had best. Mi familia. Rebellious against the world and its conformities, I strayed from the path of light, only to be bound by the chains of flesh.
