Levi Romero

Levi Romero is an Associate Professor in the Chicana and Chicano Studies department at the University of New Mexico. He serves as the inaugural New Mexico Poet Laureate (2020) and directs the New Mexico Cultural Landscapes Certificate program and the Digital Cuentos project. His work bridges poetry, ethnography, and community engagement, focusing on regional identity, acequia culture, and oral history documentation.

Research interests include cultural preservation, bilingual expression, and the intersection of place and identity. He has published extensively, including co-edited anthologies like Querencia and Sagrado, and co-authored films on acequia traditions. His poetry and pedagogical exercises, such as Where I’m From, are widely used in educational programs globally.

Recognition includes NEA/NEH grants, Society for Humanistic Anthropology awards, and the New Mexico Centennial Poet title. Romero’s teaching spans courses on acequia governance, New Mexico’s literary landscape, and community-based writing workshops.

He collaborates with libraries, museums, and incarcerated populations, emphasizing participatory storytelling. His interdisciplinary projects, like ethno-poetry documentation and film production, highlight cultural resilience in northern New Mexico.