In this Wiri Wiri Episode (tm), Rosanna Alvarez is joined by guest Elodia Esperanza Benitez as we talk about Elodia's journey as a fierce mujer and writer of flowers and fire, all while navigating a landscape that is often hostile to those she loves most - her gente (family and community). We also talk about what it is to tell our stories with grace, beyond vulnerability, as we write from a space of sincerity. With faith and grace, flowers and fire, poetically --of course!

Elodia is Chicana poet from Gilroy, California who brings the strength of her ancestors and heritage to her work. She began writing at an early age as a way of processing her experiences and those around her.

You can find her work in EASTSIDE magazine, the MALCS (Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social) journal and on her Instagram page @elodiabenitez. She is the author of the self-published chapbook Love in Many Faces (2022) and will publish her full length collection, My Nana's Hands with Riot of Roses Publishing House in the fall of 2023.