The University of New Mexico

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Media Contact: Karen Wentworth (505) 277-5627; e-mail kwent2@unm.edu

September 19, 2006

UNM Libraries Hosts Francisco Lomeli Lecture

What was it like to be a free thinker in 18th century New Mexico? Find out about one Santa Cruz resident who discovered the limits of free speech when he was visited by representatives of the Spanish Inquisition.

The Critica Neuva Lecture sponsored by University Libraries will offer a glimpse into the Spanish Colonial world of the 1730s. Professor of Chicana/Chicano Studies at the University of California-Santa Barbara, Francisco Lomeli, will return to the University of New Mexico on Oct. 25 at 4 p.m. to deliver the Critica Nueva Lecture in the Willard Room of Zimmerman Library.

The title of his lecture will be “Miguel de Quintana: Early New Mexican Poet in a State of Disenchantment.” Lomeli taught at UNM during the 1980's, and in 2005 wrote a book about Quintana in collaboration with Clark A. Colahan. The book is titled “Defying the Inquisition in Colonial New Mexico.”

Quintana came to New Mexico with Diego de Vargas in 1694. He settled in Santa Cruz de la Cañada, where he became a farmer, a notary and an assistant to both the civil and ecclesiastical authorities. Quintana was one of the very few settlers who could read or write and he was investigated by the Holy Office or Inquisition in the 1730s as someone who tested the limitations of free thinking in the Spanish colonial world with his poetry.

Lomeli and Colahan translate and discuss Quintana's poetry in their book. This short section is from a poem titled “Jesus, Mary and Joseph.”

Have humble confidence
in the Queen of Heaven,
for her powerful arm
frees you from the arrogant lion.

Lomeli has written or edited a number of books, including a major reference work on Chicano Literature. The UNM Bookstore will have several of his books for sale after the lecture.

Lomeli will also meet with students for a discussion on literary criticism at noon on October 25 th in the Willard Room of Zimmerman Library.

The lecture and discussion are free and the public is welcome.


The University of New Mexico is the state's largest university, serving more than 32,000 students. UNM is home to the state's only schools of law, medicine, pharmacy and architecture and operates New Mexico's only academic health center. UNM is noted for comprehensive undergraduate programs and research that benefits the state and the nation.

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