Cecilia Rodríguez Milanés

Cecilia Rodríguez Milanés was born in New Jersey to Cuban parents. Educated in Miami and New York, her fiction, nonfiction, and poetry appear in numerous journals and anthologies, including Acentos Review, Azahares, The Antonym, Kweli Journal, Guernica, Letras Femeninas, Southern Humanities Review, and the Norton Anthology of Latino Literature. Her short story collections, Oye What I’m Gonna Tell You and Marielitos, Balseros, and Other Exiles, both from Ig Publishers, were #4 and #5 on the Guardian’s list of ten of the best books to help understand Cuba. Everyday Chica, winner of the 2010 Longleaf Press Poetry Prize was followed by Everyday Chica, Music and More, a poetry CD set to Caribbean folk music, released in 2011. She is Professor of English at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, where she lives with her family.

Ten Things I Can’t Do Without

1. Familia, immediate and extended, near and far
2. My dogs—Shifu, a corgi/spitz mutt and his boss, Paco, a brindle chihuahua of questionable lineage
3. Good friends, especially those with shared interests like
4. Good books, art, music, food, and libations
5. My garden, or any garden really as long as there are plenty of flowers
6. Laughter—what’s life without it?
7. Dancing—ditto to the above
8. The beach but I’ll settle for a pool when it’s more convenient
9. A quiet place to write
10. Ceremony—may include religious celebrations, graduations, cultural festivals, and weddings