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Come Meet Alexandria's Poet Laureate

Reception for Cristi Donoso

Meet Alexandria's new Poet Laureate Cristi Donoso and learn about her plans for the City’s Poet Laureate Program during her tenure.. Light refreshments will be served. Registration is required.

Meet Alexandria's new Poet Laureate Cristi Donoso and learn about her plans for the City’s Poet Laureate Program during her tenure. Light refreshments will be served.  The reception is a collaborative project between the Alexandria Library and the Office of the Arts, a division of the Alexandria Department of Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Activities. 

Maria Cristina (Cristi) Donoso is an Ecuadorian American poet, writer, editor, and translator. Her poems, essays, and stories have been published by or are forthcoming in Pleiades, Waxwing, The Journal, The Cincinnati Review, The Threepenny Review, Best Small Fictions 2024, and others. She is a former PEN/Faulkner Writer in Residence and previous editor of Folio Literary Journal and a finalist for the 2024 Akron Poetry Prize and the 2024 Gatewood Prize.

Born in Quito, she now lives in Alexandria, Virginia. Cristi's work often explores migration, girlhood, grief, and motherhood. She loves to write about the role of art in personal and public life, and advocates for accessibility in educational, literary, and creative spaces. 

Cristi's professional career includes 14 years as a pediatric speech-language pathologist. After receiving her B.A. in French Language and Literature along with a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, she received a Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology from Gallaudet University, Washington, D.C. She also received a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from American University, Washington, D.C.

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