María Fernanda (she/hers) is an award-winning poet whose work “invokes sea crossings with… the breaking and making of family” (OkayAfrica). Awarded the Norma Elia Cantú Award in Creative Writing, she has received literary appointments from the National Endowment for the Arts, Arizona Commission on the Arts, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and the Academy of American Poets.
Of DC origin, she performs her poetry in service of locally rooted initiatives and conversations across the country, including at Healing Verse Poetry Line in Philadelphia, PA; Denton Black Film Festival in Denton, TX; and The Bronx is Reading: The Bronx Book Festival in The Bronx, NY, as well as for the Youth Leadership Foundation in Washington, DC.
María Fernanda’s literary works have appeared in publications such as Cheryl Clark’s “born in a bed of good lessons: inspired by works by Lucille Clifton,” Cynthia Manick’s “Soul Sister Revue,” Cave Canem’s “Dogbytes” blog, Library of Congress’ “Presidential Campaign Posters” book, and elsewhere. María Fernanda is a Program Partner of the District of Columbia Public Library. For more, visit mariafernandapoet.com.
Sandra Beasley is the curator of “Poetic Hill,” a resident of Southwest, and the author of four poetry collections. If you live in D.C. and you’re interested in being featured, you can reach her at [email protected] for questions and submissions (1-5 poems).
