Barrio Writers Returns Home To SanTana!

With A New BW Program Director—Marilynn Montaño!

It is with great excitement and pride that we announce new changes for OC Barrio Writers Summer 2015!

It truly has been a commUNITY collaboration these last few months to keep Barrio Writers alive in Orange County, California. Although there were many who opened their doors to us once we announced that we no longer had a college campus host, we couldn't resist the opportunity to return home to SanTana.

Muchas gracias to our first community partner—El Centro Cultural de Mexico—for keeping Barrio Writers alive in Orange County and reminding us to remember where it all began. We will always call El Centro Cultural de Mexico our first home...and now our Summer 2015 location too! Special thanks to Benjamin Vazquez and Carolina Sarmiento at El Centro for the words of encouragement and support along the way!

Barrio Writers in SanTana August 3rd-8th, 2015:
Click Here for more info!

But we can't go on without giving credit where credit is due! There is an empowering Xingona muxer behind all of this. Her perseverance and loyal dedication made it all happen—Marilynn Montaño is now the BW Program Director in Orange County, California!

A young Xicana poet, proud Santanera, and daughter of undocumented migrant parents from Puebla, Mexico. Marilynn Montaño's writing has been published in the OC Register, Voice of OC, and OC Weekly. In 2012, Montaño received an OC Press Club Award on a housing series for the Voice of OC. She is part of El Centro Cultural de Mexico and currently serves as a Youth Steering committee member for Santa Ana Building Healthy Communities. In the summers, she helps coordinate Barrio Writers in Orange County, California.

Montaño comes from a mixed-status family and is currently facing housing insecurities which is her drive to question the ongoing development in her city that fails to prioritize community input.

Additionally Marilynn Montaño has been part of Barrio Writers since summer 2010, leading workshops in Orange County, Austin and Phoenix while being published in five editions of Barrio Writers books!