I was invited to serve as guest editor for Peggy Robles Alvarado’s online poetry journal, La Libreta. As guest editor, I curated the work published in their ninth issue.
I was accepted into the Latinx-In-Publishing Program, I had the great pleasure of being mentored by Poet and educator Ariana Brown for ten months.
Thanks to In Full Color, I was invited to perform for various private corporate events in honor of Black History and Hispanic Heritage Month.
My self-published book, ¿Con qué papel me envuelves la luna? was housed at the library of CUNY’s Dominican Studies Institute.
As a Teaching Artist, I facilitated a four-week writing workshop for two cohorts of High School students at the East Harlem Tutorial Program’s Summer Institute.
Served as a vendor for East Orange’s Latin Night where I sold several copies of my book and made new connections.
Hosted Literary Liberation’s inaugural Storyteller Series; First Generation, First Born Daughters.
Served as a Panelist and Performer for the International Women’s Writing Guild Latine Celebration [See #9 for preview].
Hoy decidí no llorar a poem honoring my brother whom I lost twenty-one years ago was published in NatureCulture + Writing the Land’s anthology, The Black River: Death Poems.
Met with three literary agents at Latinx-In-Publishing’s Speed Dating event.
Attended the Dominican Republic’s Feria Internacional del Libro alongside the Dominican Writers Association to serve as a panelist and performer alongside my editor, Roxanna Calderon, and inspiring young poet, Yariana Torres.
My ekphrastic poem, Self-Portrait as Calla Lily was re-published in Arts by The People’s, Fall Edition of The Platform Review.
The purpose of this post is not to brag about the many things I have accomplished this past year but to recap ALL the amazing things I did that I have already forgotten about because I just do, do, do, and go, go, go without taking a moment to pause and reflect on the grandiosity of what was just achieved.
So, the goal of this post is to continue holding myself accountable and to set the intention of being as consistent with blogging as I am with yoga and morning pages; especially because I am paying a bunch of money to keep a website/blog that is not being used to its full potential.
With that said, I am publicly pledging to post at least once a month, to share more about myself and my work, and to encourage anyone who might need a little nudge or inspiration. I hope that by sharing more frequently someone may feel the urge to finally take a leap into the unknown or to keep pushing forward even when it all seems hopeless—cause trust me, I’ve been there!
As a result, I am here to prove that “it” can be done; that by taking small actionable steps daily, the big dreams get accomplished [see list above]. I know for certain that like any writing project, “it” all starts as a blank canvas, and with every edit, with every small action, “it” starts to take form until it is finally a masterpiece.
Therefore, this post is an attempt to celebrate myself and my craft—to honor the many ways I have shown up even when I didn’t want to or when it wasn't easy. So, consider this an invitation for you, Dear Reader, to do the same—
Now tell me, what are your dreams and what baby step(s) will you take in 2025 to get there?
Hi, Giovanna. I'm proud of you! You accomplished quite a lot in 2024. Keep it going! Maryellen