“Portrait of a Cuban Girl"
BIO
Madari Pendas is a Cuban-American writer, painter, and poet living in Miami. Her works focus on the surreal aspects that accompany the exile experience, as well as the inherited identity crisis of being a first-generation American. She has received literary awards from Florida International University, in the categories of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Her work has appeared in The Acentos Review, Pank Magazine, The New Tropic, Lambda Literary, Jai-Alai Books, Politicsay, The Beacon, The Flagler Review, Sinister Wisdom, Junto Magazine, The Reporter, Saudade County Press, MOKO Magazine, WLRN (Miami's NPR affiliate), and The Miami New Times. She is currently a graduate student in Florida International University's Master's of Fine Arts program.