Melani Martinez

Melani Martinez is a Senior Lecturer in the English Department’s Writing Program at the University of Arizona and a 2020/2021 HSI Fellow. A native Tucsonense, Melani’s family has lived in the Sonoran desert for at least five generations. She is a first-generation graduate of the University of Arizona with a BA in Creative Writing and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Goucher College. Her research interests include U.S.-Mexico Border studies, Chican@ studies, Southern Arizona history and folklore, and traditional foodways. Her memoir in-progress tells the story of her family’s molinería, an early 20th Century hub for tamales and tortillas in Tucson’s historic Presidio District. Melani teaches foundation courses in the Writing Program and Food Writing in General Education.