Reyna Grande

Living a Life Centered Around Writing

When Reyna Grande walked into this year’s Texas Book Festival, she was greeted with hugs and exclamations. Everywhere she went, someone was excited to see her. People knew who she was. 

This wasn’t the case ten years ago. “When my first book came out,” she says, “I was the new kid on the block. No one knew who I was.” For Grande, an alum of Antioch’s MFA in Creative Writing who now teaches in that same program, all it has taken is sixteen years of hard work, building relationships, and publishing numerous books to claim her space in the writing world.

Consuelo Flores

Day of the Dead Altarista Uses Grief, Justice, and Joy as Her Medium

Early in the month of October, the Los Angeles home of MFA alum Consuelo G. Flores becomes an explosion of boxes and bins, ornate paper flowers, and bolts of colorful fabric. This is when her busy time begins. The artist, writer, and advocate will spend the following weeks preparing to build altars for Day of the Dead celebrations—a practice she began as a teenager.