Alysia is a sister and a great listener who loves board games, linguistics, traveling, and music. One of the hardest transitions in her life was moving to Boston at age 16. In the months that followed, she wrote over 80 poems. She realized poetry was a way to vent her emotions. She is a graduate of Columbia University and works as a bilingual speech-language pathologist with K-12 students in schools. However, she still makes time to write when the urge attacks. She enjoys learning about almost anything and finding the perfect snack. Read Alysia’s Poem, Prism >>

Poet and storyteller born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in 1962. Earned a Doctorate in Law from the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) and a Master’s Degree in Pedagogy from Framingham State College. As a teacher of advanced Spanish Language and Literature at Lawrence High School, he was more than once honored as Teacher of the Year. He initiated culturally fruitful yearly interchanges with Creative Writing classes from other high schools in the area.

He has published poetry, short stories, drama, and a novel; much of his work has been translated into English and Italian. His many national and international honors include two awards for dramatic pieces, three for Children’s Literature, and seven for poetry.

He lives with his wife, Juana Castillo, and is the father of Laura, Cesar, Katie, and Penelope. Read César’s poem, JACKIE >>

Durane is a spoken word artist with a love for coloring based in Brighton, MA. In eighth grade, he stumbled upon poetry to express his feelings for a crush. He has been uncovering pieces of his soul through written verse ever since. Winner of the 2021 Poem for Roxbury contest, his favorite forms of poetry are haikus. West was published four times in 2021 from 826 Boston, Write on the Dot, Mother Mercy, and Boston Hassle. Check out his weekly sports recap on Boston Hassle’s website. Read Durane's poem, Merriam-Webster and I disagree >>

Isabella grew up in Natick, MA, with her mother and graduated from Natick High School in 2017. She attended Boston College (BC) to study English, History, and Latin American Studies following her time there. Having traveled abroad to various places in Ecuador and Venice as a part of her degree, she was often inspired by global and local poets and writers. Several of her poems written during her undergraduate career have been published in BC’s literary magazines (Stylus and The Laughing Medusa). Recently, she’s been doing a year of service with College Advising Corps – Boston University and attending grad school there for a Masters of Global Policy with a specialization in Environmental Policy. Read Isabella’s poem, lovers in the fields >>

Kesper is a writer, artist, musician, teacher, and astrologer. He spends a lot of time contemplating the slow burn of the apocalypse, with its twin existential crises of climate catastrophe and authoritarian capitalism. He is working on two poetry collections: Millennial Madness and Sparks on Solstice, as well as a treatise, Revolutionary Zodiac. These works have been going on in writer’s time, which moves even slower than island time because it takes a while to navigate the waves of personal and collective trauma. But “not all those who wander are lost.” Read Kesper’s poem, Black Mirror >>

Mayank is a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard Medical School, Boston. Originally from New Delhi, Mayank earned his PhD in biology in Tübingen, Germany, before moving to the US. Mayank is fascinated by life—its beauty in all forms—and is passionate about words; their power to bring life to the matter. Along with pursuing scientific research, he writes and reads poetry and fiction and is on a journey to share his unpublished works with the literary world. He is honored to be part of Through These Realities and is grateful to have his first poem published in this project. He has served as a reviewer for the Harvard Review in fiction. He believes in creating an unwalled community that is kind, fair, and inclusive and is action-oriented about it. He leads a few diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) committees, including the Harvard Medical Postdoc Association. Read Mayank’s poem, Cat in the church >>