Jimmy Santiago Baca will speak on “The Power of Poetry on My Life” on Saturday, July 12 at 7 p.m. in Student Union Building ballroom A. Part of the Summer Sunset Lecture Series sponsored by University Libraries, the event is free and open to the public. Listen to an interview with Santiago Baca on UNM Live Jimmy Santiago Interview.
Photo: Jimmy Santiago Baca
When Santiago Baca started writing poetry in prison, it changed his life. “I’d be robbing banks, probably if I hadn’t been caught I’d be on my 200,000th bank right now. But poetry stopped me. I put down the gun and picked up the pen,” he said.
He founded Cedar Tree, Inc., a nonprofit organization, to empower prisoners, families of prisoners and at-risk youth through literacy and writing.