Jennifer Mariela Rivera

La Interseccion Jennifer Mariela Rivera

"With ternura profunda Jennifer Rivera sings of our lonely migrations as she documents the bonds of love and the mirage of memories that form and re-form the lives of those who leave. A heart-felt and important debut."

-Ana Menendez




In La Interseccion, her first book, Jennifer Mariela Rivera's poems move fearlessly into a world that desperately needs them-to remind us that courage is contagious, language is revelation, and that one young poet sharing her words on the page can light a new path and even open a heart. I recommend Rivera's work both for its gravity and for its play. It is, simply, a joy to read.

-Maureen Seaton, author of Sweet World




In this first book of poems, Jennifer Rivera navigates both the public and private realms as an extranjera, a woman, and an artist. "I come from black volcanic ash," she passionately asserts, while diving into torn allegiances as "neither immigrant nor American." In "Two Men Walking a Breast," inspired by poem of the same title by Maureen Seaton, and "Wide-Eyed," inspired by Pablo Neruda, she exposes her deep and broad poetic links, as well as her search for validation. "To write is to think," she tells us and indeed her work does just that and much more. This collection by a promising new poet is a must read for its candor, authenticity, and artistry.

-Carolina Hospital, author of Key West Nights and Other Aftershocks