Jimmy Santiago Baca

• Name — Jimmy Santiago Baca • Born — 2 January 1952 • Birthplace — Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S. • Occupation — Poet • Notable Works — Martin and Meditations on the South Valley • Spouse — Married • Awards — American Book Award, Pushcart Prize, International Hispanic Heritage Award, International Award. • Website — https: www.jimmysantiagobaca.com

Baca was born in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, in 1952. Abandoned by his parents at the age of two, he lived with one of his grandmothers for several years before being placed in an orphanage. At the age of 13 he ran away and wound up living on the streets. When he was 21, he was convicted on charges of drug possession and incarcerated. He served five years in prison,[3] three of them in isolation, and having expressed a desire to go to school (the guards considered this dangerous), he was put in the same area of the prison with the inmates on death row for a period of time before he was released.[4] During this time, Baca taught himself to read and write, and he began to compose poetry. He wrote an essay called "Coming Into Language," which is about his upbringing and the challenges he had to face. Baca wrote this piece in the order of his life from the start to the end. He talked about his struggles in prison and how he took a book and started to teach himself the beauty of literature. He discovered a way to express himself which is the beauty of it all. He sold these poems to fellow inmates in exchange for cigarettes. A fellow inmate convinced him to submit some of his poems to the magazine Mother Jones, then edited by Denise Levertov. Levertov printed Baca's poems and began corresponding with him, eventually finding a publisher for his first book.[5]

Immigrants in Our Own Land, Baca's first major collection, was published by the Louisiana State University Press in 1979.[6] This early collection included "I Am Offering This Poem,"[7] a poem later reprinted in 1990's Immigrants in Our Own Land and Selected Early Poems[8] and anthologized in The Seagull Book of Poems[9]. In 1987, his semi-autobiographical minor epic in verse, Martin & Meditations on the South Valley, received the American Book Award for poetry, bringing Baca international acclaim and, in 1989, the Hispanic Heritage Award in Literature.[10] • Illustration — Baca at the 2009 Oregon Book Festival. In 2004 Baca started a non-profit organization, Cedar Tree, Inc., that supports literary workshops for inmates and troubled youth, through charitable donations. As well as writing workshops, Cedar Tree has produced two documentary films Clamor en Chino and Moving the River Back Home. The organization employs ex-offenders as interns.[11]

Santiago Baca wrote the screenplay for a Hollywood production, Blood In Blood Out. Baca also appeared as an actor in the film and as one of its producers.[16] A film based on Baca's memoir A Place to Stand, directed by Daniel Glick, was released in 2014.[17] The film was produced by Gabriel Baca, David Gruban, and Andres Salazar[18] The creators of the movie also made a school curriculum to strengthen and highlight the morals within Baca's life story, containing a workbook and films. In 2003, Baca appeared in an episode of Def Poetry Jam.