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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).
Robert Quintana Hopkins is an AfroChicano descendant of the Martinez, Barela, Quintana, Chavez, and Vigil families from Colorado and New Mexico. He was born and raised in California and currently resides in the San Francisco East Bay, where he works as an organizational development practitioner and is completing a PhD in organizational psychology. In his spare time he writes poetry and facilitates a monthly writing group.
![Sepia-toned portraits of a woman in a dark dress and a man in a suit with a striped shirt, both facing forward, set against a plain background. [gen-ai]](https://elpalacio.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/02-2-1-400x225.jpg)
By Robert Quintana Hopkins One email can radically change your understanding of yourself. I received that email in 2015 from Hannah Abelbeck, photo archivist at the New Mexico History Museum. A 1915 photo of Sam Adams at the Palace of the Governors Photo Archives (see "Sam and the Adams Family") prompted a multi-year exploration into his life story by Hannah and me.
![A smiling man wearing sunglasses and a black shirt holds a red glassblowing piece in a workshop. Text reads: Encounter Culture, Season 1 Episode 4. [gen-ai]](https://elpalacio.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/S1E4-blue-blue-400x225.jpg)
