Yesika Salgado

Yesika Salgado (born 1984) is an American poet. She is the author of three poetry books: Corazón, Tesoro, and Hermosa. She is also a co-founder of the poetry collective Chingona Fire.

Early life

Salgado's parents immigrated from El Salvador and she grew up in Los Angeles.[1] Her father encouraged her reading habits, but wanted her to become a teacher.[2] Salgado dropped out of John Marshall High School when she was 18 years old, then worked a series of retail jobs while working on her poetry.[3]

Career

In 2005, Salgado started posting her work online at HipHopPoetry.com, where she had created a false identity under the name Yesika Starr. After she was banned three years later for plagiarizing a Ricardo Arjona song, the site's founder encouraged her to read at the open mic night at Da Poetry Lounge, where she began performing under her own name.[3] In 2014, Salgado performed at the National Poetry Slam for the DPL. She later qualified for the 2016 Da Poetry Lounge Slam Team.[4] During this time Salgado frequently shared her work on Instagram, building a large social media following.[5]

Salgado's first book, Corazón, was published in 2017. Salgado frequently mentions fruit throughout the book, specifically mangoes, and the cover of the book reflects this theme.[6] Corazón was listed on Amazon's best seller list.[4] Her second book, Tesoro, was published in 2018. Its poems draw on Salgado's family history to examine women, Los Angeles, and identity.[3] Her most recent book, Hermosa, was published in September 2019 and deals with love, loss, and gentrification.[7]

Salgado and Angela Aguirre founded the feminist poetry collective Chingona Fire.[8] The organization hosts frequent open mic/performance nights for women-identified poets of color to share their work.[4]

Bibliography

Poetry
  • Hermosa, Not A Cult Press, 2019
  • Tesoro, Not A Cult Press, 2018
  • Corazón, Not A Cult Press, 2017
  • Sentimental Boss Bitch, self-published, 2017
  • WOES, self-published, 2016
  • The Luna Poems, self-published, 2013[9]

References
  1. Diaz-Hurtado, Jessica; Contreras, Felix. "Amidst Political Tumult, Salvadoran Artists Across The Country Discuss Their Work". NPR. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  2. Reichard, Raquel. "Woman Crush(ing the Patriarchy) Wednesday: Yesika Salgado". Latina.com.
  3. Castaneda, Vera (2019-04-09). "Poet Yesika Salgado blew up on Instagram. Now her books are breaking literary boundaries". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  4. Muñoz, Mala (2016-08-30). "Meet Fat, Fly, Salvadoran Poet Yesika Salgado". Vibe. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  5. Zaragoza, Alex (2017-10-13). "This Instagram Queen Is Calling Out Misogyny And Her Online Harassers And It's Beautifully Savage". Fierce. Mitú. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  6. Quevedo, Sayre (2018-04-26). "What poet Yesika Salgado knows". Public Radio International. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  7. "Yesika Salgado Talks Love, Loss, and Gentrification in New Poetry Book". HipLatina. 2019-10-07. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  8. Bolaños, Christine. "In One Year, Poet Yesika Salgado Left Her Day Job and Became the Author of Buzzy New Book". Remezcla. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  9. "Yesika Salgado HuffPost". www.huffpost.com. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
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