Rita Magdaleno

Rita Maria Magdaleno was born in Germany and grew up in Marcos de Niza, south-side Phoenix, Arizona. Her mother was a German war bride and her father was from Mexico. Rita works as a poet in the schools for the Arizona Commission on the Arts and as adjunct faculty for Pima Community College. She is also a nurse. She has facilitated poetry, journal-writing, and “Writing for Renewal” workshops for cancer survivors.

Rita’s poems and stories have appeared in national and international publications, including: Camino del Sol: Fifteen Years of Latina & Latino Writing; Puerto del Sol; Walking the Twilight: Women Writers of the Southwest; Fever Dreams: Contemporary Arizona Poets; and Neueste Chicano Lyrik: New Chicano Poetry.

Her poetry recently appeared in Nimrod International Journal and Our Spirit, Our Reality, Celebrating Our Stories. Rita’s collection of poetry, Marlene Dietrich, Rita Hayworth, & My Mother, was published through Camino del Sol series at University of Arizona Press. She also published My New Backyard Garden, a bilingual children’s book, and co-edited They Opened Their Hearts: Tucson’s Elders Tell WWII Stories to Tucson’s Youth.