Kathryn Sears
The Inlandia Institute has a new leader.
Mckenna Deluca-Martinez is taking over the nonprofit literary organization that’s based in Riverside.
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Deluca-Martinez was programs director for the Claremont Forum, a nonprofit organization that supports the arts, education and wellness. She supervised daily operations at its bookshop for five years, an Inlandia news release states.
Deluca-Martinez also led the organization’s Prison Library Project, which takes books to incarcerated people across the nation. She is the founder and editor-in-chief of the Prison Library Press, which publishes work from incarcerated writers and artists.
“Arts and literature are the lifeblood of our home in the Inland Empire,” Deluca-Martinez said in the release. “I am deeply grateful and excited for the opportunity to help inspire a new wave of creativity for our community as I step into the role as the new leader of the already-amazing Inlandia team.”
She replaces Cati Porter, whose last day will be Monday, Dec. 15. Porter led the institute for 12 years.
Deluca-Martinez, who was chosen after a nationwide search, began work for Inlandia on Monday, Dec. 1.
“Mckenna Deluca-Martinez has the energy and the passion for the work, and I think she’s going to do an awesome job,” Porter said in the release.
The Inlandia Institute, founded in 2007, is a publishing house that also promotes literature and hosts related activities across the Inland Empire. It sponsored the first Riverside Book Festival in October. Inlandia also writes a weekly column for this newspaper.
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