Esperanza Cintrón is the author of Shades, Detroit Love Stories, a 2020 Michigan Notable Book, published by Wayne State University Press. Published in Obsidian, her short story “Shadow Dancer” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She has three books of poetry: Visions of a Post-Apocalyptic Sunrise, the Naomi Long Madgett Award winner What Keeps Me Sane, and Chocolate City Latina. Her chapbook Boulders, Detroit Nature Poems, was published by Chestnut Review Press in January 2023. Cintrón’s work appears in Manteca! An Anthology of Afro-Latin@ Poets and others. Her honors include Callaloo Writing Fellowships at Brown and Oxford Universities, a Michigan Council for the Arts Individual Artist Grant, a National Endowment for the Humanities educator’s scholarship and she has a doctorate in English Literature. Under the nom de plume Alegra Verde, she has written a number of short romances published by Black Lace, Harlequin, Avon and others. Several have been translated into other languages. Twitter: @alegra.verde Instagram: Alegra.verde