Melissa Castro Almandina is a Xicana poet and artist from the Southwest Side of Chicago. She is a member of Brown and Proud Press, a zine collective that serves as a platform for healing in POC communities and is a resident artist at AMFM. With her vintage typewriter, she attends zine festivals and offers on demand poetry. She facilitates poetry workshops on the Southwest Side of Chicago and debuted her hand bound zine of poetry entitled, Rose Quartz and Serpentine. She was a featured writer at Pilsen Fest and has been published in The Garland Court Review, Home Zine, and Cuentos de Gringolandia. You can find her work on Instagram: melissa.almandina