CONTEMPORARY CULTURAL AMBASSADOR

Roger Martinez is the first creative juried into Contemporary Hispanic Market as an author

Roger Martinez leans back in his chair, runs his fingers over his graying mustache and says, “Write about what you know. That’s what they say. Well. I know about dream works, addictions, culture and healing.

So that’s where I begin.”

Sporting a white beret and a sky blue shirt,

Martinez sits behind a table at the Spanish colonial–era Martinez Hacienda, a home and museum in Taos, where he volunteers as a guide. The table before him displays three of his self-published books and several of his retablos, small devotional paintings on wood. Nearby, a rack holds his photographs-turned-greeting cards: roses, daisies, horses and landscapes.

In true Taos style, Martinez is an artist who does a little bit of everything. This year, Contemporary Hispanic Market chose Martinez as its first featured author. Held in conjunction with Traditional Spanish Market on July 30 and 31, the market highlights a variety of art forms outside the other market’s umbrella. Like Traditional Spanish Market, Contemporary Hispanic Market is the largest of its kind and attracts art collectors from all over the world. Participants are New Mexico residents and must be at least one-quarter Hispanic. The market has traditionally included visual artists such as painters, sculptors and jewelers.

The addition of a writer is new.

“The New Mexico writers [category] was added this year to honor writers and let them know we listened to their concerns and desires as writers and being included in an art market,” says Ramona Vigil-Eastwood, president of Contemporary Hispanic Market. “We hope to inspire more creative writing.” Martinez fits the bill. Born and raised in Taos, he’s from a family that first arrived in the area in the 1690s. As a young man, he moved to Santa Fe for fresh opportunities. After obtaining a degree in social work, he counseled New Mexicans suffering addiction in a private practice. He worked with imprisoned youths and with inmates at the Penitentiary of New Mexico, helping to heal addictions and trauma. Martinez returned to Taos to work as a substitute teacher, tutor and executive director of the Taos Men’s Shelter.

Upon his return to Taos, Martinez began to take writing seriously. “Looking back, all my college papers were terrible,” he says. “I couldn’t write. I’m not even sure how I passed. But I liked writing. I attended some workshops and, at the age of 45, decided to write a novel.”

His first book, Tales of an Enchanted New Mexico, begins and ends with wellworn stories familiar to anyone from Northern New Mexico. They’re traditional