Cassie Holguin-Pettinato is a Chicana multidisciplinary artist, published poet, thereminist, and mother from the El Paso/Juárez frontera. A fourth-generation resident of La Calavera (The Skull)—the last remaining neighborhood of El Paso’s historic Smeltertown—she carries the legacy of a once-thriving Mexican immigrant community that built their lives on ASARCO (American Smelting and Refining Company) land. Growing up in this rich cultural oasis shaped her imagination and creativity, sparking her love for collage art, poetry, and storytelling at the age of 11.
She is the author of The Lamb’s Tail (Bottlecap Press, 2022) and The Five Stages of Stuttering (FlowerSong Press, 2024) and holds a B.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Texas at El Paso. In 2024, she was awarded the Poet and Author Fellowship at the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing. Her work explores themes of family, intergenerational trauma, and the relationship between internal and external landscapes. Cassie’s creative practice has been deeply influenced by her travels in Ireland, particularly along the Wild Atlantic Way in 2023. The landscapes, culture, and history she encountered resonated with her borderland home, offering a new lens through which to explore joy, memory, and displacement. This summer, she will continue this journey as a resident at Watershed in Galway, Ireland—an opportunity to further immerse herself in the region’s artistic and natural landscapes. Currently, Cassie is working on her forthcoming hybrid memoir, Sen time ntality, along with an accompanying album book. This new body of work marks a shift in her writing, embracing joy as a central theme while continuing to push the boundaries of her craft. |