Georgia Santa Maria is an Albuquerque native, born in the old purple brick “St. Jo’s” on Martin Luther King. She spent her youth at Ellis Ranch in the Sandias, where her family had a cabin, and where she developed a life-long love for nature. An early rebel, she was described by her elementary principal at Emerson as “the worst kid she’d ever known.” Georgia decided to take poetry seriously when her English teacher at Valley High School told the class that there had never been a woman poet worth reading. She has been writing ever since.

She has been an active participant in the Albuquerque and Santa Fe Poetry Communities, reading as a featured poet regularly at open-mikes, and publishing in Malpais Review, Adobe Walls, Mas Tequila Review, and others. Her book of poetry, Lichen Kisses, was published last April, and includes some of her photographs. Photography has long been Georgia's other passion, and she has had photos published by New Mexico Magazine.

She is working on The Miami, NM Hippie Mommy Cookbook, about her life on a ranch in Miami, New Mexico in the ‘70s and 80’s, and a book about her experiences running her great-grandfather’s “Abercrombie Store” in Anton Chico, New Mexico. She says about her work, “Writing is like stopping to take a photograph: a capture of the moment. An instant of thought or feeling. . . It is a way of leaving my footprints on the Universe. To share with others the basic experience of living – what it is to be alive.”

Zachary Kluckman is a two-time member of the Albuquerque national poetry slam team, a Pushcart Prize nominee, and recipient of the Red Mountain Press National Poetry Prize. He publishes poetry in such publications as the New York Quarterly, Cutthroat, and Red Fez. He is an accomplished “spoken word artist,” as well as an Editor for the Pedestal. An activist, youth advocate and organizer, he has been recognized twice for creating the world's only Slam Poet Laureate Program and an organizer for the 100 Thousand Poets for Change, the largest poetry reading in history. As a youth advocate, Kluckman donates hundreds of hours a year to working with and empowering youth. His collection Animals in our Flesh is praised by Jimmy Santiago Baca among others, and his second collection, Some of it is Muscle, has just been released by Swimming with Elephants Publications.

For all Duende Poetry Series readings wine, snacks and non-alcoholic drinks are available. The event is free, although donations are encouraged.