María Teresa Fernández, también conocida como Mariposa, es una premiada poeta, escritora, educadora y activista. Nació en el Bronx, Nueva York, donde todavía vive. Se ha presentado en numerosos colegios universitarios y universidades de Estados Unidos, Puerto Rico y el extranjero, y ha aparecido en BET, HBO Latino y PBS. Sus poemas se han publicado en numerosas revistas especializadas, entre las que se encuentran And Then Magazine, La Repuesta Magazine y Tribes, así como en las antologías African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle and Song (Library of America, 2020); Conceptualizing Afro Latinidad in AfroLatina/o Literature and Performance; Label me Latina/o Special Issue: Black and Latina; Latinas: Protest & Struggle in 21st Century USA; y Manteca: Anthology of AfroLatin@ Poets. Recibió el premio City Artist Corps 2021, que concede el Departamento de Asuntos Culturales de Nueva York y la Fundación de las Artes de Nueva York, y la beca CUNY Adjunct Incubator 2020-2021, que concede el Centro para las Humanidades. Su inspiración para escribir “es crear arte que documente mi experiencia personal y lo que hemos sobrevivido” y “nombrar lo que hay que nombrar, desde la celebración de nuestras fortalezas y victorias hasta la denuncia de las injusticias y violaciones continuas de nuestros derechos humanos como puertorriqueños, en la Isla y en la diáspora”. Sobre su nombramiento como becaria de Letras Boricuas, Fernández dice: “Es un gran honor y siento una profunda humildad por haber sido reconocida por mi propia gente”.
María Teresa Fernández Rosario, also known as Mariposa, is an award-winning poet, writer, educator, and activist. She was born in the Bronx, New York, where she still lives. She has performed at numerous colleges and universities throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, and abroad, and has been featured on BET, HBO Latino, and PBS. Her poems have been published in numerous magazines and journals, including And Then Magazine, La Repuesta Magazine, and Tribes, as well as in the anthologies, African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle and Song (Library of America, 2020); Conceptualizing Afro Latinidad in AfroLatina/o Literature and Performance; Label me Latina/o Special Issue: Black and Latina; Latinas: Protest & Struggle in 21st Century USA; and Manteca: Anthology of AfroLatin@ Poets. She is the recipient of the 2021 City Artist Corps Award, awarded by the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, and the New York Foundation of the Arts and the 2020-2021 CUNY Adjunct Incubator grant, awarded by The Center for Humanities. She is inspired to write “to create art that documents my personal experience and what we have survived” and “to name what there is to be named, from celebrating our strengths and victories to denouncing the injustices and ongoing violations of our human rights as Puerto Ricans, on the Island and the diaspora.” About being named a Letras Boricuas Fellow, Fernández says, “It is a great honor and deeply humbling to be recognized by my own people.”