Martha Egan

I always intended to get serious about writing fiction at some point, says author Martha Egan. But it took a hideous experience with U.S. Customs to force me into it. The result was a semi-autobiographical novel, Clearing Customs, named Fiction Book of the Year for 2005 by Online Review of Books & Public Affairs. Her next novel, Coyota, won a Bronze Ippy Award for Mountain-West Best Regional Fiction in 2008 from the Independent Publisher Association. Her short story collection, La Ranfla and Other New Mexico Stories will be released September 2009. Martha Egan publishes fiction under her own imprint, Papalote Press: www.papalotepress.com.

She has been an importer and dealer of Latin American folk art since 1974 through

I always intended to get serious about writing fiction at some point, says author Martha Egan. But it took a hideous experience with U.S. Customs to force me into it. The result was a semi-autobiographical novel, Clearing Customs, named Fiction Book of the Year for 2005 by Online Review of Books & Public Affairs. Her next novel, Coyota, won a Bronze Ippy Award for Mountain-West Best Regional Fiction in 2008 from the Independent Publisher Association. Her short story collection, La Ranfla and Other New Mexico Stories will be released September 2009. Martha Egan publishes fiction under her own imprint, Papalote Press: www.papalotepress.com.

She has been an importer and dealer of Latin American folk art since 1974 through her gallery, Pachamama, in Santa Fe. The Museum of New Mexico Press published her non-fiction books, Milagros: Votive Offerings from the Americas (1991) and Relicarios: Devotional Miniatures from the Americas (1994). Since 1991, she has held the honorary position of Research Associate of the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe. In 2004, she was the first recipient of the Van Deren Coke Award from the Friends of Latin American Folk Art.

She holds a BA in Latin American History from the University of the Americas in Mexico City and was a Peace Corps volunteer in Venezuela in the late 60s.

Egan volunteers with the Corrales Residents for Clean Air and Water, the International Folk Art Market, and hangs out with 43 nieces and nephews. She grew up in northeastern Wisconsin and is a rabid Packer fan.

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