Kelsey Milian Lopez

Kelsey Milian Lopez was raised in Miami, Florida. With a strong sense of cultural identity she has been able to connect and trace her heritage with her Mexican, Guatemalan, Aztec, Zapotec, K’iche Maya, French, German, Spanish, and Japanese roots. She recently graduated with a degree in Sociology and Educational Studies at the Liberal Arts Institution Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. She now resides in New York City as she pursues a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology at CUNY Graduate Center.

Her interdisciplinary education is fostered by her experiences inside and outside the classroom that include non-profit work, community activism and engagement, and a passion for performing arts and programming. All of these experiences feed into Kelsey’s passion for poetry as an artistic outlet to understanding her multi-cultural identity and ancestry. Her poems “Buenos Dias Niña” and “Brujeria” reflect her appreciation and understanding of the sacrifice immigrant parents make in order to help their children create opportunities for themselves. Her poems have been featured in Mujeres De Maiz, Not Very Quiet Online Journal, Bien Acompañada Press, The Echo, South Carolina’s Best Emerging Poets 2019, and The Latino Book Review.