C.L. "Rooster" Martinez

Bio

C.L. “Rooster” Martinez is a spoken word poet, professor, and occasional podcaster from San Antonio, TX. He is the author of three poetry books: Mexican Dinosaur (WAN Publishing 2023; NACCS Tejas Poetry Book Award winning), 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. 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 to San Antonio. He received his MA/MFA in Literature, Creative Writing and Social Justice from Our Lady of the Lake University