Teresa Ortiz

Alma Y Corazón: Writing in the Rhythm of Life

A Mexican writer, poet, storyteller, and spoken-word artist, Teresa writes in Spanish and English to honor her ancestors and her loved ones. Born and raised in Mexico City and northern Mexico, Teresa has been a resident of Minnesota since the 1970s, living in the Twin Cities and in rural southwestern Minnesota, and for several years in Chiapas (Mexico) and Guatemala (Central America). Her writing depicts the sacred places where she has lived, the amazing people who have touched her life, the beauty of community, the energy of revolution, and the memories and inheritance from ancestors and loved ones. Her past published work has include her book: Never Again a World Without Us: Voices of Maya Women from Chiapas Mexico (EPICA 2001); short stories “El Rio” in Lake Street Stories (Flexible Press 2018) and “The Children’s Mountain,” in Home (Flexible Press 2019), and several poems published in chapbooks and literary journals. She is a member of the Latino spoken word collective, Palabristas, and has presented at many events throughout the Twin Cities; and she is presently a member of a collective of fiction writers.

In this anthology, Teresa aims to reflect on the beauty around our lives, the sacredness in nature and mother earth, the magic of Latino culture and indigenous spirituality, the power of history in our own lives, and the love of family and community. In these stories, Teresa reflects on experiences that take us from Central America to Minnesota, with feelings, descriptions, and images that turn us into protagonists of history.