SATURDAY POETRY SERIES PRESENTS: NORMA LILIANA VALDEZ

INCISION
by Norma Liliana Valdez

Norma Liliana Valdez arrived to California from Mexico in her mother’s pregnant belly. She was born and raised in the Bay Area. Her poetry seeks to disentangle the tradition of women’s oppression and pain through the personal intersection of the psyche with the page. She is an alumna of the Voices of our Nations Arts Foundation (VONA) writing workshop for writers of color and the Writing Program at UC Berkeley Extension. She holds a Master’s degree in Counseling from San Francisco State University and works with first-generation, underrepresented students as a community college counselor. She is currently working on her first poetry manuscript, Coyolxauhqui.

Editor’s Note: Ms. Valdez is a poet to watch out for. Through her manipulation of language- in its meaning, its sound, and its visual expression on the page- she is adept at using emotional turmoil to create poetic experiences that transform her readers. She is one of my personal favorite poets, and I await her first book of poetry with baited breath.