Christopher Martinez

C.L. “Rooster” Martinez is a spoken word poet and educator from San Antonio, TX. He is the author of two poetry books: A Saint for Lost Things (Alabrava Press, 2020) and As it is in Heaven (Kissing Dynamite Poetry Press, 2020). He co-edited Contra: Texas Poets Speak Out, a poetry anthology, and was a writer on the 2016 play, American Pride, which won two ATAC Globe awards for Writing of a Drama and Overall Production of a Drama.

In 2012, C.L. also co-founded the Blah Poetry Spot-a weekly, poetry open mic–and in 2017 co-founded Write Art Out Inc–a San Antonio literary not for profit organization specializing in writing and community outreach. In 2018, he was the event director which brought Southern Fried Poetry Festival–the third largest spoken word competition in the nation–to San Antonio. In 2014, he became San Antonio’s Grand Slam Champion, and he received his MA/MFA in Literature, Creative Writing and Social Justice from Our Lady of the Lake University in 2018.