Esperanza Cintron

Poet, Fiction Writer

Detroit, MI
Michigan US
Twitter/X: 

Author's Bio

Esperanza Cintrón is the author of Shades, Detroit Love Stories (Wayne State University Press, 2019), which was a 2020 Michigan Notable Book. Her short story "Shadow Dancer" was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She also has four books of poetry: Chocolate City Latina (Swank Press, 2005), the Naomi Long Madgett Award winner, What Keeps Me Sane (Lotus Press, an imprint of WSU Press, 2013), and Visions of a Post-Apocalyptic Sunrise (Stockport Flats Press, 2014). The most recent, Boulders, was published by Chestnut Review Press in 2023. 

Her is anthologized in Manteca! An Anthology of Afro-Latin@ Poets, Double Stitch, Of Burgers & Barrooms, Obsidian and many others.  A native Detroiter, she was a founder of The Sisters of Color Writers Collective and the creator of its literary journal Seeds https://stars.library.ucf.edu/seeds/.  A SUNY graduate, Cintrón has a doctorate in English Literature. Awards include a Michigan Council for the Arts Individual Artist Grant, Callaloo Writing Fellowships at Oxford and at Brown Universities and an NEH educator’s scholarship. Website: https://esperanzacintron.com/

 

Publications & Prizes

Fiction

Book:
Shades, Detroit Love Stories (Wayne State University Press, 2019)

Poetry

Books:
Visions of a Post-Apocalyptic Sunrise: Detroit Poems (Stockport Flats Press, 2014)
,
What Keeps Me Sane (Wayne State University Press, 2013)
Prizes won: 

2013 Naomi Long Madgett Award; Shades, Detroit Love Stories chosen as a 2020 Michigan Notable Book; Callaloo Writing Fellowships at Brown and Oxford Universities; a Michigan Council for the Arts Individual Artist Grant.

 

 

Personal Favorites

Favorite authors: 
Lucille Clifton Pedro Juan Soto! Ana Castillo, Joseph Conrad, James Baldwin, Ursula K. Le Guin, Nalo Hopkinson, Octavia Butler, Mario Vargas Llosa Alice Walker, Morrison
What I'm reading now: 
American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson, various works by Chester Himes & Rudolph Fisher, Blanche on the Lam by Barbara Neely

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
Black, Latino/Latina/Latinx
Prefers to work with: 
Any
Born in: 
Detroit, MI
Michigan
Raised in: 
Detroit, MI
Michigan
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Apr 27, 2024