Martha Cinader is a poet and author living in Harlem, NY. Her middle grade book: Marq and the Queen Fish, is forthcoming in 2026 from Atmosphere Press.
Martha Cinader writes for her life. She is in a never-ending search for a new language of non-conquest, a new word for woman, and new ways to communicate. She calls out to the archetypes of our collective dreams that grow and change with us, and believes in their generous ability to shed light when we are surrounded by darkness. They answer her with words and sounds that surface and land on the page or stage as poetry or fairytale, memoir, play, novel or song.
Martha believes that listening is one of our greatest tools for peace and equity. Being heard is a human right. Listen & Be Heard has been through many iterations as a unique open mic event, a publication, a cafe, a website, and a podcast/syndicated radio show. The premise has always been simply to listen and be heard, and to provide a platform for others to do the same. Martha believes that We the People are the network. Martha reads widely and is in a never-ending public conversation with writers around the globe, who she learns from and is inspired by.
More History
Martha’s creative journey is rooted in the vibrant scenes of spoken word, jazz and dance music in 80’s and ’90s NYC. She performed original stories and poetry in homeless shelters, nightclubs and festivals, including to critical acclaim at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the Panasonic Village Jazz Festival and the Bang on the Can Festival at Lincoln Center with Butch Morris’ Chorus of Poets. The original Listen & Be Heard, a unique poetic/musical/theatrical event, was started by Cinader at University of the Streets on 7th Street in the East Village and subsequently to the Knitting Factory and the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. She also collaborated with Steve Cannon at A Gathering of the Tribes, on the magazine, forums and festivals, including the inaugural Charlie Parker Festival in Tompkins Square Park. Cinader produced a weekly arts magazine at WBAI Radio, wrote and produced the live radio dramas Marvelina and Mission of Love and brought the live recording of Fred Ho’s Monkey King at the Joseph Papp Theatre, to the WBAI airwaves .
Cinader is the founder and Director of the Listen & Be Heard Network, where she hosts and produces The Listen & Be Heard Hour, and Beyond Borders, both non-commercial podcasts and syndicated radio shows on the Pacifica Affiliate Network.
Martha took Listen & Be Heard through several iterations as a unique open mic event in New York and then Vallejo, CA, where it also became a weekly newspaper and poetry cafe. She headed south in 2009, where she raised her three young sons and managed six and half acres of fields, ponds and woods, and started the Listen & Be Heard Hour.
Now an empty nester, Martha has returned to her hometown of New York City where Listen & Be Heard Network has become a project of Sound System Culture, based in Harlem.
Martha Cinader 