Meet Our Board of Directors
Board Members Needed!
The NMSPS all-volunteer Board needs new members! If you are an adult NMSPS member and would like to help steer the organization going forward, consider volunteering for one of the open positions below. If you are not an adult member or prefer to help us in a non-Board position, consider volunteering for one or more of the duties described in the open Board positions below. Contact President Bernadette Perez to volunteer or for more information.
2026 OPEN BOARD POSITIONS
- Secretary
- Santa Fe Chapter Chair
- Convention Chair
- Fundraising Chair
- Contest/Publications Chair
NMSPS Officers
Elected every two years by majority vote of the NMSPS membership.
Bernadette Perez, President
In February 2022, then Vice President Bernadette Perez accepted the NMSPS President position.
Perez said, “I am honored to serve as the NMSPS President for 2022-23, and I hope you will join me in the work ahead, as we strive to promote poetry in New Mexico and beyond. There is much to be done as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.
I have been involved in NMSPS since 2005 as a Member, Chapter Chair, Historian, Vice President, and President. It has been a wonderful opportunity. The times I spend working with friends on NMSPS projects are the best parts of my week.
I hope to continue to positively influence others’ experiences and promote poetry into the future in New Mexico and Beyond in my newly appointed role of President of NMSPS.”
In 1990, Perez received the Silver Poet Award from World of Poetry. Her work has appeared in The Wishing Well: Musings, Small Canyons Anthology, and Poems 4 Peace. She contributed to La Familia: La Casa de Colores and won the Wagner Society of Santa Fe Audience Favorite “Write Your Own Prize Song.” Her work is included in the mega-unity poem by Juan Felipe and in The Americans Museum Inscription by Shinpei Takeda. She has been published in over 100 publications between 2015-2021. When she is not writing, she works full time as a Corporate Success Leader and balances her love of poetry and family.
Marcial Delgado, Vice President
Secretary
This Board position is currently open.
Christine Murphy, Treasurer
Christine Murphy has over 25 years of accounting experience in both nonprofits and commercial businesses. Her career includes doing accounts payable/receivable and payroll for a general contractor, working in an Albuquerque CPA firm serving nonprofit organizations, and directing a dental clinic with a million-dollar yearly budget.
Christine is president of the Bosque Gardens Mutual Domestic Water Consumers’ Association in Peralta, NM, and has served as its de facto treasurer since 2007. She is a single mom with four grown children and five grandchildren. Christine loves sports, especially LA Dodgers’ baseball. She enjoys working in her yard, for which she schedules a new project every year.
Chapter Chairs
Elected every two years by majority vote of the Chapter membership.
Kuan Tikkun, Chair
Rio Grande Valencia Chapter
Kuan Tikkun was a founding member of Rio Grande Valencia (RGV) poets and is currently the RGV chair. Kuan specialized in haiku/senryu for many years and has branched out into prose poems, rhyming limericks and free form. She has been published in several anthologies and is currently cocooning. Stay tuned.
Lynne Zotalis, Chair
Silver City Poets
Directors
Appointed annually by the NMSPS president.
Shirley Blackwell, Chancellor
During 2008-20, Shirley Blackwell served successively on the NMSPS Board as chapter chair of the RGV Poets, chancellor, president, again as chancellor, and liaison to the National Federation of State Poetry Societies (NFSPS). In 2014 she became an NFSPS board member as chair of the annual NFSPS College Undergraduate Poetry (CUP) competition. In 2018 she was appointed NFSPS 1st vice chancellor.
She resigned from both boards in the early days of the Covid pandemic to become a backyard farmer and write a children’s book based on her prizewinning poem “Kerchoo! Call the Zoo!” Her freezer is full and the book is still waiting.
Blackwell’s poems appear in more than a dozen anthologies, reviews, and journals under her pen name, Shirley Balance Blackwell. She also wrote a monthly column about poetry for the Valencia News Bulletin for three years. She has published two poetry books of her own, titled Already Thereand Ditchbank Diaries: Haibuñera from the Land of Enchantment, which traces acequia history and culture from ancient times to the present. Both books were finalists in the NM-AZ Book Awards in 2012 and 2013, respectively. In 2016, along with former presidents Fil Peach (NMSPS) and Eleanor Berry (NFSPS), she founded the NFSPS BlackBerry Peach Prizes for Poetry: Spoken and Heard, which annually awards prizes and publication for original performance poetry.
Jan Baca, Membership Chair
Jan writes in Albuquerque, NM, where she has lived since 1997 with her husband and son. Jan’s award-winning poetry and short stories have appeared in various publications, including the Santa Fe Reporter, Albuquerque Alibi, Earthships: A New Mecca, Central Avenue Poetry, and Glissando!: New Mexico State Poetry Society Anthology 2023.
Jan often explores themes of isolation, absurdity, and difference to uncover raw aspects of the human condition that are tender and vulnerable. In these soft spaces she believes connection, community, and healing may occur. Jan holds a BA in Creative Writing and an MA in Elementary Education from the University of New Mexico. She is excited to be a part of the New Mexico State Poetry Society and looks forward to helping members with any membership questions or issues that may arise.
Kayleigh Stevens, Youth Chair
Keshi! Salutations
My name is Kayleigh Stevens and I’m a first-year student at the University of New Mexico (Go Lobos!) studying computer engineering with a minor in computer science. I’m from Zuni Pueblo and still go visit as often as I can! As both a STEM student and Native American woman, I value creativity and the arts. From silversmithing and painting to poetry and creative writing I believe it is the backbone of our people. I consider myself a poet and I’ve been writing poetry since I learned how to read. I hope I can do a great job as the youth chair and thank you all so much for giving me a chance! Elahkwa. Thank you.
Keep an eye out and I hope to see you soon!
Larry Boggan, Newsletter Editor
Hello, my name is Larry Boggan. I write speculative fiction novels and poetry under the pseudonym Donald D’lo. I recently retired, which allows me time to edit the Language of Enchantment. Until now, I’ve spent my time working on my new website, www.dlobookstore.com, where I intend to sell my books and offer my services as a writing coach/instructor in the fields mentioned above.
I have Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Vocational Education from Mississippi State University plus an Educational Specialist Degree from the University of Southern Mississippi. I also hold a Master’s degree in English/Creative Writing from UNM.
I’ve been a resident of NM for over 25 years. My wife Dorothy and I, along with our adopted dog (named Cat), live at Pigeon Ranch in the Estancia Valley. When I’m not writing, I fly Birmingham Roller pigeons.
Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of the NMSPS team.
Zachary Kluckman, Publications Chair
Last updated on October 30, 2026