Printable Biography of Jimmy Santiago Baca

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Born in New Mexico of Chicano and Apache descent, he was raised first by his grandmother and was later sent to an orphanage. A runaway at age thirteen, it was after Baca was sentenced to five years in a maximum security prison at the age of twenty-one that he began to turn his life around: there he taught himself to read and write and found his passion for poetry.  Just after his release, Mr. Baca became the first Hispanic poet to be published by New Directions.  Along with other noted poets, he was featured in the Bill Moyers PBS special, The Language of Life.  His memoir, A Place to Stand, 2001 Grove/Atlantic, received the prestigious International Prize as well as the Barnes and Noble Discovery Award.  

Jimmy Santiago Baca is not only an award-winning writer, he is a speaker and promoter of writing and literature to diverse audiences, in particular working closely with at-risk youth and prison inmate populations, as well as being a popular speaker at high schools and colleges around the country.  His work has been instrumental in conveying the transforming power of literature to empower, move and change people.  In 2005, Baca founded Cedar Tree, Inc., an organization dedicated to bringing literary studies to prisons, juvenile detention centers and schools, and is currently filming a documentary about Baca teaching prison inmates.   

Jimmy Santiago Baca is currently working on the novel A Glass of Water, to be published by Grove/Atlantic in 2006 and a book of poetry, Spring Poems Along the Rio Grande, to be published by New Directions in 2006.  

Education

1984, BA English, University of New Mexico

2003, PhD Literature, University of New Mexico

Selected Awards and Honors

2003 – New Mexico Arts Commission appointment by Governor Richardson 

2001 - The International Prize for A Place to Stand

2001 - Barnes and Noble Discover Author for A Place to Stand

1997 - Humanitarian Award, Albuquerque

1996 & 1997 - World Champion Poetry Bout, Taos, NM

1995 - The Endowed Hulbert Chair, Colorado College

1993 - Southwest Book Award

1990 - The International Hispanic Heritage Award

1990 - Berkeley Regents Chair, University of California , Berkeley

1989 - The Wallace Stevens Endowed Chair, Yale University

1989 - The American Book Award for Poetry

1988 - The Pushcart Prize

1987 - The Vogelstein Foundation Award

1986 - National Endowments Arts Literary Fellowship

Books of Poetry & Novels

The Importance of a Piece of Paper, Grove/Atlantic, NY, NY, 2004

Winter Poems Along the Rio Grande, New Directions, NY, NY, 2004

C-Train & 13 Mexicans, Grove/Atlantic, NY, NY, 2002

A Place to Stand, Grove/Atlantic, NY, NY, 2001

Healing Earthquakes, Grove/Atlantic, NY, NY, 2001

Working in the Dark: Reflections on a Poet in the Barrio, Red Crane Press, Santa Fe, NM, 1992.

Immigrants in Our Own Land, New Directions, NY, NY, 1991.

Black Mesa Poems, New Directions, NY, NY, 1989.

Martin & Meditations on the South Valley, New Directions, NY,NY, 1987.

Film/Scripts

Bound by Honor (as video- Blood In, Blood Out), Disney Productions, Hollywood Pictures, 1992.

The Lone Wolf - The Story of Pancho Gonzalez, HBO Productions, 2000.

Talks & Keynotes

Mr. Baca has had over 500 speaking appearances, the following are a few highlights:

Brown University, University of California, Berkeley, UCLA, University of California, Santa Barbara, Denison University, University of Texas, Stanford University, W.I.T., Georgetown University, University of New Mexico, Cochise County Juvenile Detention Center, Worcester County Young Writers Conference, National Art Therapy Conference, Write to Read, New York College Learning Skills Association, El Puente Conference, Education Disability Juvenile Justice Conference (E.D.J.J.), College Reading and Learning Association Conference (CRLA), Pro-Literacy Worldwide Conference

Radio/TV Appearances

National Public Radio, Good Morning America, National Discovery Channel, PBS Language of Life with Bill Moyers, and CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood, TV 411