The Gift of Loss

Description

The Gift of Loss is the memoir of a Puerto Rican woman coming to terms with the loss of her parents while still in her teens. The challenges she confronts and overcomes as a young adult and only child bring about a healing. Her inner harmony is restored by the written word and spoken word and profound spiritual faith. Through prose pieces and poetry, the author looks back on the different decades in her life and how she learned to deal with change, stereotyping and finally acceptance.

About the Author:
Maria Aponte

MARIA APONTE is a Poet/Performance Artist/ Community Arts Activist/Educator. She has written and performs her two one woman shows, Lagrimas de mis Madres an autobiographical play based on the women in her family, and I Will Not be Silenced based on the life of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz. Maria performs her work at colleges/universities/ conferences locally and nationally. She has been featured on Bronx Net, News 12, NBC Latino and WABC-TV. Maria has been published in The Marymount Review, the literary magazine of Marymount Manhattan College. She studied at the Iowa University Summer Writer’s Workshop. Her one woman show, Lagrimas de Mis Madres was published by Marquette University and Western Michigan University in Caribe Revista de Cultura y Literatura. The Nuyorican Women Writers Anthology published in Voices e/Magazine, the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, Hunter College- CUNY; an online literary journal, editor Dr. Nancy Mercado. In 2013 Maria’s first book, Transitions of a Nuyorican Cinderella won 2nd Place for Best Poetry in English at the International Latino Book Awards. Transitions of a Nuyorican Cinderella is listed on RockThoseReads selected books about Harlem by Total Equity Now. Maria is the founder of Latina 50 Plus™ a program honoring Latina Pioneers.