Bad Hombres and Malas Mujeres: Immigrant Writers Respond to President Trump

Zohreh (Zoe) Ghahremani is the author of Sky of Red Poppies, the 2012 selection for the One Book One San Diego reading and literary campaign sponsored by KPBS and San Diego Public Library.  Her sophomore novel, The Moon Daughter was released to much acclaim. An immigrant, Zohreh draws heavily from her Iranian-American culture in her writing. Her work has won several prestigious awards, including first place in California Stories (2005), San Diego Book Awards (2004), and Best Fiction at Santa Barbara Writers Conference (2004).

Marco Antonio Huerta is a queer Mexican. bilingual writer, translator, and educator. Author of the poetry collections: La semana milagrosa (Conarte, 2006), Golden Boy (Letras de Pasto Verde, 2009), Hay un jardín (Tierra Adentro, 2009). Magnitud/e (Gusanos de la nada, 2012) is a poem-in-progress written together with Sara Uribe and translated into English by John Pluecker. His work is published in several periodicals and anthologies in Mexico, Spain, Uruguay, and the United States. His work is focused the intersections between nonfiction, poetry, sexuality, nationality, and globalization. In 2017, he earned the degree of Master in Fine Arts in Writing after from UCSD

Krysada Phounsiri is a professional dancer, an award winning poet, and photographer. Dancing for 15 years, his resume includes various competition wins around the globe, performing a year long stint in Las Vegas, dancing / choreographing on movie sets, and other numerous creative projects. His work has appeared in publications such as the Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement and the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center’s national photo project. His recent series "Beauty Beyond Scars" is featured in various blogs/content sites including The Getty and The Phoblographer. He debuted his first book of poetry in April 2015, titled "Dance Among Elephants".

Marivi Soliven has taught creative writing at the University of the Philippines and UCSD. Her stories have appeared in anthologies in Manila and the US. Marivi’s debut novel In the Service of Secrets won the 2011 Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, the Philippine counterpart of the Pulitzer Prize.  That novel, retitled The Mango Bride was published by Penguin Books April, 2013.  The San Diego Book Awards later named The Mango Bride Best Contemporary Fiction of 2013. Rhumba at the Rizal, a short play based on scenes from her second novel, The Rizal Dance Hall Murder, was performed onstage at the Lyceum Theater in downtown San Diego in April, 2017 as part of the Halo-Halo suite of plays produced by Asian Story Theater. 

Hope Wabuke is the author of the chapbooks The Leaving and Movement No.1: Trains. A contributing editor for The Root, her work has also been published in The Guardian, Guernica, The North American Review, Salamander Literary Journal, Tupelo Quarterly, Ruminate Literary Journal, African Voices Magazine, Literary Mama, Salon, Gawker, Ozy, Creative Nonfiction,The Hairpin, The Feminist Wire, The Daily Beast, Los Angeles Magazine, Fjords, Kalyani, Joint Literary Journal, Ms. Magazine and others. She is an assistant professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a founding board member of the Kimbilio Center for African American Fiction.