Yael Valencia Aldana

Poet

Pompano Beach, FL
Florida US
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Author's Bio

Yael Valencia Aldana is the author of the chapbook, Alien(s) (Bottlecap Press) and the forthcoming poetry collection, Black Mestiza (University Press of Kentucky, 2025). She is the winner of the University Press of Kentucky New Poetry and Prose Series Prize 2023, a Pushcart Prize winner, a finalist in the AWP Kurt Brown Scholarship, semi-finalist for the Two Sylvia Press Wilder Poetry Prize. Her work has appeared in Torch Literary ArtsStone Coast Review, South Florida Poetry Journal, and Cutbank Literary Journal, among others. She is the managing editor at Purple Ink Press and teaches creative writing at Florida International University.

Publications & Prizes

Book:
Black Mestiza (University Press of Kentucky, 2025)
Chapbook:
Alien(s) (Bottlecap Press, 2023)
Prizes won: 

Pushcart Prize 2023
University Press of Kentucky New Poetry and Prose Series Prize in Poetry 2023

Personal Favorites

Favorite authors: 
Margaret Atwood Toni Morrison Lia Purpura Lucille Clifton Ada Limón
What I'm reading now: 
Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood, The Narrow Road To Deep North by Bashō, Terrible Stories by Lucille Clifton

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
African American, BIPOC, Hispanic, Mixed-Race, Native American
Prefers to work with: 
Adults
Fluent in: 
English
Born in: 
San Fernando
Trinidad and Tobago
Raised in: 
Chancrey Lane, CC
Barbados
Christ Church
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: May 31, 2024