Martha Batiz
BIO
Biography

Featured in Latinos Magazine among the Top Ten Most Successful Mexicans in Canada, and named also one of the Top Ten Most Influential Hispanic-Canadians, Martha Bátiz was born and raised in Mexico City, but has been living in Toronto since 2003. Her articles, chronicles, reviews and short stories have appeared in diverse newspapers, magazines, and in over thirty anthologies not only both Mexico and Canada, but also in Spain, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Peru, Chile, Ireland, England, the United States, Australia, and Turkey.

Martha has penned two short-story collections in Spanish: A todos los voy a matar (I’m Going To Kill Them All, Castillo Press, Mexico, 2000), and De tránsito (In Transit, Terranova Editores, Puerto Rico, 2014). Her award-winning novella Boca de lobo was originally published in Spanish both in the Dominican Republic and in Mexico (in 2007 and 2008, respectively), and released in its first English translation as The Wolf’s Mouth (Exile Editions, 2009). In 2018 it appeared in its French version as La Gueule du Loup (Lugar Común Editorial), and in a new English edition under the title Damiana’s Reprieve (Exile Editions). Boca de lobo is also available through Audible as an Audiobook in Spanish since 2021.  Martha is also the author of two short-story collections in English, the first one titled Plaza Requiem: Stories at the Edge of Ordinary Lives (Exile Editions, 2017), winner of the 2018 International Latino Book Award in the category of “Best Popular Fiction: English.” The second and most recent is No Stars in the Sky, published by House of Anansi Press in 2022, which was translated into Turkish in 2023. Martha’s debut novel, A Daughter’s Place, based on the real life of the daughter, sisters, niece, and wife of celebrated Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, was published by House of Anansi Press in May 2025.

Editor of the anthology Desde el norte: Narrativa canadiense contemporánea (UAM, 2015), Martha is also part of the editorial committee of the successful books Historias de Toronto and Historias de Montreal (Lugar Común, 2016 and 2019, respectively). She holds a PhD in Latin American Literature and is an ATA-certified literary translator. Besides being the founder and instructor of the Creative Writing in Spanish courses currently offered by the School of Continuing Studies at the University of Toronto, she is a part-time professor at York University, where she teaches Spanish language and literature, as well as translation and creative writing.

ADDRESS
City: Richmond Hill , Province/Territory: Ontario
EMAIL
GENRE
Fiction
LANGUAGES
Spanish, English
PUBLICATIONS
Publications
Title
A Daughter's Place
Publisher
House of Anansi Press
Year
2025
Title
No Stars in the Sky
Publisher
House of Anansi Press
Year
2022
Title
Damiana's Reprieve
Publisher
Exile Editions
Year
2018
Title
Plaza Requiem: Stories at the Edge of Ordinary Lives
Publisher
Exile Editions
Year
2017
AWARDS
Awards
Name
International Latino Book Award
Publication
2015 and 2018
Year
2015 and 2018
PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS AND WORKSHOPS
Presentation details
Audience Size
Audience size
Any
Presentation Length
60 min
Programs & Interests
Interested in participating Union’s Ontario Writers-in-the-Schools program:
All members are eligible for the Union’s Ontario Writers-in-the-Schools program. Are you interested in participating in this pro
Yes
Interested in participating in the Northern Ontario WITS program:
The Union’s Northern Ontario Writers-in-the-Schools program funds in-person visits to northern Ontario schools when possible. Ar
No