Emerging BIWOC Poet Spotlight: Mariella Saavedra Carquin
This monthly series features poems by women of color in the early stages of their publishing careers. It is our intention to create more space at Perugia for the work of poets who are Black, Indigenous, and women of color (BIWOC). We hope using our platform to highlight this work will expand the readership of the poets we spotlight. This series aligns with Perugia’s mission to celebrate and support emerging women poets, inclusive of gender-expansive identities; featured poems will be from poets with no more than one published full-length collection. We’d love to hear from readers with suggestions for poems & poets to feature.
April 2025 Poet: Mariella Saavedra Carquin
A child said that she
is lonely
a feverish energy
we described as coming out of her skin
I told her I'd start
teach her how to connect her emotions
w/ her body & brain
she heard me describe it as
my insides feel like they're gonna burst
my heart's beating fast
like it's gonna explode
I can't escape myself
that's when I'm at my loneliest
she said, me too!
that's what it is
that's exactly what it is
I didn't realize loneliness
doesn't care about age
that at 6 you can be lonely
that at 30 you can be lonely
that at 68 you could be lonely
and it feels the same
body & brain
Source
Maps You Can’t Make, June Road Press, 2023
Poet Bio
Mariella Saavedra Carquin (she/her/ella) is a writer and mental health clinician. She is the winner of the 2024 Gold Medal in poetry for the IPPY (Independent Publisher Book Awards) and also a 2024 Colorado Book Award finalist in poetry for her book, Maps You Can’t Make. In addition to writing poetry, she has published in various academic journals on the psychological impact of microaggressions experienced by undocumented immigrant youth. She is a graduate of Middlebury College, holds an EdM and an MA in psychological counseling from Columbia University, and an MA from Middlebury’s Bread Loaf School of English. Born in Lima, Peru, and raised in Miami, Florida, she currently lives in Denver, Colorado.