Pasa por Aquí | columns by Vanessa Baca

Bread for the departed on family altar.
Bread of Death and Life: A Short History of Pan de Muertos
Wed, Nov 1, 2023, 9:27am | By Vanessa Baca
For me, it’s not truly El Día de los Muertos until I read the following quote by the Mexican author Octavio Paz from his masterpiece El Laberinto de la Soledad: “Para el habitante de Nueva York,...

Green Chile Stew Credit: Vanessa Baca
Slow Burn: A Family History of Green Chile Stew
Thu, Dec 1, 2022, 11:20am | By Vanessa Baca
Wintertime in New Mexico is unique. The relatively mild weather, the smell of pine-scented woodsmoke in the air, the farolitos and luminarias that light up the nights throughout the...

Photo Courtesy of Vanessa Baca Credit: Ultima and Owl, artist Kathy Gidden, oil on canvas.
Burning Última: Rudolfo Anaya and the Impact of Book Bans on Democracy
Tue, May 31, 2022, 8:10am | By Vanessa Baca
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines democracy as a government by the people, especially the rule of the majority, and one that is characterized by free and open elections. As Americans, most of us tend...

New Mexico's State Cookie: The Biscochito Credit: Photo Courtesy by Vanessa Baca
A Sweet and Spicy Memory: Biscochitos in New Mexico Culture
Wed, Dec 1, 2021, 6:52pm | By Vanessa Baca
In my memory, I am standing next to my grandmother, watching her roll out the dough, deliciously studded with tiny seeds of anise. I have the very important job of cutting the dough into the shapes of...

Vanessa Baca
Fish Not Flesh: Symbolism of the New Mexico Lenten Feast
Thu, Mar 31, 2022, 12:33pm | By Vanessa Baca
When I was growing up, my New Mexico Catholic family each year would enjoy what we call the Lenten meal. Though Catholics are asked to eschew eating meat on Fridays during Lent, it was the Good Friday...
Recent Columns
Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in these blog posts/articles do not necessarily represent those of the New Mexico Humanities Council or the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Krampus is Coming: Why Halloween is Actually Just the Start of Spooky Season
Thu, Nov 30, 2023, 3:22pm
By Monika Dziamka
Bread of Death and Life: A Short History of Pan de Muertos
Wed, Nov 1, 2023, 9:27am
By Vanessa Baca
Send in the Clowns: Funeral Humor
Tue, Oct 31, 2023, 8:59am
By Liz Hamilton
Pre-pandemic grief, ancestral memory, mourning the world in 2020 and healing in the present
Mon, Oct 2, 2023, 11:22am
By Venaya Yazzie
Nuestra Voz: The Chihuahua Hill Story and the importance of community, self-representation, and remembrance.
Mon, Oct 2, 2023, 11:20am
By Javier Marrufo