Meet The Facilitators

Lissette Norman is a poet and author of picture books, including My Feet Are Laughing and Plátanos Go with Everything. She co-authored On the Line: The First African-American Rockette and Until Someone Listens. Lissette has received the NYFA 2018 Artist Fellowship in Fiction, the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund Grant, and residencies at Hedgebrook and Martha’s Vineyard. She was also an Author-in-Residence for the National Book Foundation's BookUpNYC program. Lissette holds a BA in English from SUNY-Binghamton and lives in New York City.

Ruth Pion Vizcaino, a social researcher, anthropologist and activist focusing on racial justice and gender equality in her homeland, is the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute’s (CUNY DSI) inaugural Threatened Scholars Fellow. She will spend the fall semester at The City College of New York-based CUNY DSI, benefitting from a safe space to continue working in favor of promoting cultural inclusiveness in the Dominican Republic.

JP Infante is the author of On the Tip of Your Mother’s Tongue and Aquí y Allá: un retrato de la comunidad Dominicana en Washington Heights. He is the winner of PEN’s Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize and Thirty West’s Chapbook contest. His writing has appeared in Kweli, The Poetry Project, Rigorous, A Gathering of the Tribes, and elsewhere. He has been awarded scholarships and fellowships from the NY State Writers Institute, PEN America and The Center for Fiction. He holds an MFA from The New School

Alicia Anabel Santos credits her spiritual journey for shaping every facet of who she is. As a writer, producer, playwright, speaker, activist, teaching artist, and priestess in the Lucumi-Ifa-Regla de Ocha tradition, her path has been one of profound soul work and healing. Her memoir, Finding Your Force: A Journey to Love, explores this journey, though she admits the search for love continues. Santos' work exists at the intersection of radical self-love, community service, and sharing her gifts as LA SANTERA.

Roberto Carlos Garcia, a poet, essayist, and storyteller, writes deeply about the Afro-Latinx experience, blending influences from the Harlem Renaissance to the Black Arts Movement. His collections include [Elegies], black / Maybe: An Afro Lyric, and Melancolía. His work appears in POETRY Magazine, The BreakBeat Poets, and more. Garcia also founded Get Fresh Books Publishing and holds an MFA in Poetry from Drew University.

María Carla Picón, from Caracas, Venezuela, is a lexicographer, editor, writer, poet, and university professor with over 20 years of experience. She is the founder of DiEditores in the Dominican Republic and has taught linguistics and literature at institutions like UCV and PUCMM. Picón contributed to the Diccionario de Americanismos and is a member of ALED. Her works include the poetry collection Mareas and she is a frequent speaker at international literary events. Her research focuses on vallenato music, with her upcoming book Versos en Acordeón.

Modesto “Flako” Jimenez is a Dominican-born, Bushwick-raised multi-hyphenate artist whose work spans poetry, playwriting, acting, and directing. His art explores identity, language, and culture, focusing on the social and political issues facing Latin American communities in Bushwick. His current project, Taxilandia, draws from his experience as a NYC taxi driver and is being developed in partnership with theaters across the country. Flako is the founder of Oye Group and creator of festivals like Ghetto Hors D’Oeuvres. He also teaches theater and poetry in NYC public schools and is currently developing Margarita, Mercedes y Dementia, a play about matriarchy and inherited trauma.

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Eli Villamán is a Dominican writer, screenwriter, actress, director, and creative writing teacher. She holds degrees in Industrial Engineering (PUCMM) and two master’s degrees in Narrative and Creativity Strategies. Founder of Escribir es HOY, she has led workshops in Europe and the U.S. and received numerous awards, including the 2023 Federico García Godoy Novel Prize. Her works include Sesiones de Ablepsia, Las Islas Rotas, and the upcoming novel El día en que mamá no regresó.

Moraima Capellán Pichardo is a Dominican-born, Brooklyn-raised, professional writer, visual creator, organizer, and yoga teacher. After completing her undergraduate degree in Journalism and Cinema and Screen Studies from the State University of New York at Oswego, Moraima worked in marketing and web management with communications companies such as the Bushwick Film Festival and American Telecommunications Inc.  She has written for Oprah Daily, The Huffington Post, La Galeria Magazine, and Healthista, among others. Her published work often focuses on the cultural analysis of the immigrant experience and social justice on and off screen. After living in New York, Moraima returned home and is based in Cabarete, Dominican Republic.