Angela Pico was born in the Andes in 1994, spent her early childhood in Bogotá, Colombia and then moved with her parents and twin sister to the Blue Ridge Mountains in rural North Carolina. She called western North Carolina home, until she moved forty minutes east of Los Angeles to study in Pomona College, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Romance Languages and Literatures, specializing in Spanish and French Literatures. She won a prize for best thesis. While completing her undergrad degree, she studied French Literature abroad at the Sorbonne University in Paris. After her journey in California, she came back to North Carolina to work in an elementary school as a Program Coordinator for an academic enrichment program for underprivileged children ages 5-12. While spending time with children, she realized she wanted to write the stories she told them. And she wanted to further her skills in poetry. She was accepted into the MFA Spanish Creative Program at the University of Iowa with an Arts Fellowship, which is designed to recruit the most talented artists to the university. During her MFA she won the Stanley Award, worked as an editor at Iowa Literaria, and shared her poetry in various literary festivals. After completing her MFA, she obtained a Masters in French and Francophone Studies at the University of Iowa in Spring 2021. While at the University of Iowa, she has researched Latina/o/x Literature and has presented her work at conferences, she has also taught French and Spanish Language classes, as well as a course in Latina/o/x Literature.
The music for this podcast is "Ira" by Blake Shaw.
Ongoing support comes from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Iowa Arts Council, and from the United States Regional Arts Resilience Fund. Phase 1 is an initiative of Arts Midwest and its peer United States Regional Arts Organizations made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The Writers of Color Reading Series is produced by the Englert in Iowa City, Iowa, and is supported by Friends of the Englert. Visit www.englert.org/friends to support our programming.
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Host: Jesus “Chuy” Renteria
Line Producer & Audio Engineer: Savannah Lane
Executive Producers: John Schickedanz & Andre Perry
