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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).
Carmella Padilla is a Santa Fe writer who frequently explores intersections in art, culture, and history in New Mexico and beyond. Her books include El Rancho de las Golondrinas: Living History in New Mexico’s La Ciénega Valley; Low ‘n Slow: Lowriding in New Mexico; and The Chile Chronicles: Tales of a New Mexico Harvest. She is a recipient of the New Mexico Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts.
Since 1953 fourteen words have declared themselves to all who enter the Museum of International Folk Art with the compelling mystery of scripture or a message on an ancient tomb: “The Art of the Craftsman is a Bond Between the Peoples of the World.” Despite its dramatic presentation above the museum entrance, the inscription is unattributed; the author chose anonymity after carefully choosing words that spoke for themselves.
As refugees, [Joy] Ndungutse and [Janet] Nkubana were among the lucky. Both educated and employed in Uganda, they had no experience of Rwanda’s dark days, though their parents’ years of sacrifice and struggle had left an indelible impression. Even as their mother was disconnected from her homeland, she gave the sisters a cherished gift of Rwandan tradition, teaching them to weave colorful coiled baskets from natural fibers and grasses in the style made and used in Rwanda for centuries.
