Donna Snyder was recently invited to be a contributor to the El Paso News.  She founded the Tumblewords Project in 1995 and continues to organize its free weekly workshops and other literary events in the borderlands around El Paso, Texas.

Snyder formerly worked as an activist attorney representing indigenous people, people with disabilities, and immigrant workers, and also prosecuted misdemeanor environmental crimes and fraud, beginning her practice of law in Dinétah, formerly known as Navajo Indian Country.  In her 30s, Snyder began writing both prose and poetry and developing a reputation throughout New Mexico as a writer and performer of spoken word.  She served on the statewide board of a New Mexico reproductive rights advocacy group and received training at a national level on organizing.  At this time she began combining political advocacy with cultural organizing.

Snyder’s legal practice included winning a class action on behalf of disabled indigenous children against two departments of the United States government, and in other litigation against the federal government she travelled many places for investigations, advocacy, depositions, and to lobby on Capitol Hill in D.C. for legislation that was enacted into law.  Another notable case involved winning a federal consent decree in a case representing a group of campesinas and campesinos, in a case of first impression in the nation.  That case was widely reported throughout Mexico, was noted in USA Today, and was extensively covered across New Mexico and West Texas.  Snyder was awarded or nominated for prizes for her advocacy and activism on behalf of people with mental illness, developmental disabilities, and drug addiction, as well as for her work on behalf of immigrant workers and indigenous people. In 2012, the Mexican American Bar Association named her outstanding El Paso lawyer for the year.

Snyder also served in various literary capacities over the years.  She was an editor for poetry and art for Return to Mago.  For Unlikely Books, she was fiction editor of an international, underground anthology, Unlikely Stories of the Third Kind, and edited I Can Sing Fire, a chapbook by Anne Lombardo Ardolino. Snyder edited the poetry page for the El Paso Bar Journal, focusing on writing by local lawyers and judges, and also worked as Assistant Editor.  She volunteered as Poetry Curator for Newspaper Tree, a political periodical, publishing poets from all over the United States.

Snyder’s own poetry and book reviews began to be published widely in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.  Three different small presses published collections of her poetry, Virgogray Press (Austin), Chimbarazu Press (New York City), and NeoPoiesis Press (Vancouver Island, British Columbia).  Snyder reports that her books are owned in India, Australia, Mexico, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, England, France, Germany, and across the USA and Canada.  She will be providing poetry and non-fiction on an occasional basis to the El Paso News.

Donna J Snyder

a poet and lawyer

7 replies on “Donna Snyder joins El Paso News”

  3. Thank you both., Martín and Ann. My other post disappeared so there may be some tecnical issues. It was an ekphrastic poem. Maybe the original invitation to post either prose or poetry has been rethought and there is a desire to focos on politics? In any every, thank you both!

    1. Hi Donna, There are no restrictions on what you can post. We welcome poetry, prose, art, photography, videos and anything anyone wants to share. We are trying to build a place for expression without limitations. I am sorry your post did not appear, I can only assume it was a technical issue. Please repost and know that everything is welcome as long as it does not violate anyone’s copyright or any laws. Otherwise, everything is welcome. Looking forward to reading some poetry. -martín

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