Clare L. Martin is a Louisiana-based poet and teaching artist. Crone, her book-length poem, was released by Nixes Mate Review Books in 2018. Clare’s second collection, Seek the Holy Dark, was the 2017 selection of the Louisiana Cajun and Creole Series by Yellow Flag Press . Her debut collection of poetry, Eating the Heart First, was published by Press 53 .

Clare’s poetry has appeared in Thrush Poetry Journal, Poets and Artists, Louisiana Literature, and many other literary publications. She performed her work Crone as a dramatic reading, on stage in 2019, at Teche Center for the Arts , in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, and at The Latter Library in New Orleans, with her creative counterpart, Bessie Senette .

Martin has been featured at numerous venues including at the George Washington University Textile Museum in Washington DC, the Asheville Poetry Festival in Asheville, North Carolina, the Austin International Poetry Festival in Austin, Texas, and in Seattle as part of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference.

Regionally, in Louisiana, she has performed her works in Lafayette, Baton Rouge, Grand Coteau, Arnaudville, Breaux Bridge, Lake Charles, and New Orleans. In addition, she was featured as a panelist at the invitation of the former Poet Laureates of Louisiana, John Warner Smith and Jack Bedell at the Louisiana Book Festival at the State Library of Louisiana in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Martin maintains a vital network with international poets and writers and frequently collaborates with artists who practice a variety of disciplines. She also works as a private creative mentor and leader for emerging writers through projects she initiated and facilitated such as Acadiana Scribes , Acadiana Word Lab, and Renegade Writers.

She has presented numerous creative writing workshops to both school-age children and adults in her 19-year career as a professional writer and teaching artist.

In 2015, she founded MockingHeart Review , an online poetry and visual art magazine, which is entering its eighth year, now under the editorship of poet and LSU Ph.D. candidate, Tyler Robert Sheldon http://mockingheartreview.com

Martin is the Program Manager at Lafayette Council on Aging , a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit in Lafayette, Louisiana.

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May I introduce you to Clare?

Each success, no matter how small, in the practice of what I love is a lightning strike against the dark.
~CLM