Donato Martinez features at Two Idiots Peddling Poetry

Join Donato Martinez as he features for Two Idiots Peddling Poetry at The Ugly Mug in Orange, CA with a reading from his new collection Ten Toes in the Earth (El Martillo Press, 2026).

The Ugly Mug (open for the event)

261 N Glassell St, Orange, CA 92866 (NOT in Burbank!)

$5 cover fee, cash only

No outside food or drinks.

Ages 12+ unless otherwise specified

About the Author:

Donato Martinez was born in in small pueblo, Garcia de la Cadena, Zacatecas, Mexico and immigrated into the USA at six years old. He teaches English Composition, Literature, and Creative Writing at Santa Ana College. He has also taught classes in Chicano Studies. He has been a co-coordinator of the Puente Program for 25 years. In 2022, he was awarded the Creative Expression Faculty Award and the Transfer Advocate of the Year. In 2024-2025, he was recognized as the Distinguished Faculty of the Year, the highest honor bestowed on a faculty member. He is nominated for the Orange County Teacher of the Year, for the year 2026. He is also a cast member of papah!, a YouTube show that features Mexican dads sharing their unique perspectives through candid conversations, food reviews, and reactions.

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Martinez also hosts and curates many artistic events that feature poetry and music on his campus or in the community. He writes about his family, his barrio experience, his community, his Chicano culture, his love of language and hip hop, and the complexity of relationships. He is influenced by the sounds and pulse of the streets, people, music, and the magic of language.

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He has a self-published collection with three other Inland Empire poets, Tacos de Lengua. His work has been published in literary journals: City Works, East Side Rose, The Acentos Review, San Diego Poetry Annual, Ofrenda Magazine, Mixtape Literary Journal, Latin@ Literatures, The EAR, Xinachtli Journal (Journal X), La Raíz Magazine and in the anthologies: With Dim Lights & Obsidian Tongues: A Pomona Poetry Anthology, ILL Anthology Vol. 2 and Vol. 3, and Anger is a Gift: An Anthology of Resistance and Response Poems to the 2024 Election. His first full collection of poetry, Touch the Sky, was published by El Martillo Press in 2023. He loves the outdoors and is inspired by books, music, and his children, Gabriel and Abigail.

Two Idiots Peddling Poetry:

Two Idiots Peddling Poetry is a weekly poetry reading held at the Ugly Mug Café in Orange, California on Wednesdays at 8 pm. There is a cover charge (cash only, see event pages for more info). The reading generally has one or two featured poets reading for 20-30 minutes each, plus an open mic.

El Martillo Press:

Founded by Matt Sedillo and David A. Romero, El Martillo Press publishes writers whose pens strike the page with clear intent; words with purpose to pry apart assumed norms and to hammer away at injustice. El Martillo Press proactively publishes writers looking to pound the pavement to promote their work and the work of their fellow pressmates. El Martillo is the builder of bridges and the destroyer of walls.