About Sarah Cortez

The poetry of Lineup contributor (and co-editor as of Issue 3) Sarah Cortez (How to Undress A Cop, Arte Público, 2000) brings the world of street policing to the reader in a way that poet-reviewer Edward Hirsch describes as “nervy, quick-hitting, street-smart, sexual.” Winner of the 1999 PEN Texas Literary award in poetry and other juried designations, Cortez is much in demand as a creative writing teacher. One of her poems was chosen for the nationwide Poetry in Motion program and many others have been anthologized. One of her poems was designated as an Honorable Mention in the 2007 Texas Poetry Calendar (Dos Gatos Press, Austin) by noted poet Kathleen Peirce. Cortez edited Urban-Speak: Poetry of the City (University of Houston, CMAS, 2001) and Windows into My World: Latino Youth Write Their Lives (Arte Público, 2007), an anthology of short memoir written by young men and women reflecting the diversity of growing up Latino in the U.S. Cortez has been a police officer since 1993. She has co-edited two fiction anthologies with Liz Martinez: for Arte Público Press, Hit List: The Best of Latino Mystery, and for Akashic Books (Brooklyn), Indian Country Noir, coming in June 2010.