The Puerto Rican Literature Project

Maria Aponte is a poet, performance artist, community arts activist, and educator. She is a recipient of the International Latino Book Award for Transitions of a Nuyorican Cinderella (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2012) and The Gift of Loss (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016), a memoir dealing with the loss of her parents as a young adult and the healing process from that loss. She completed a master’s degree in Latin American/Latino Studies from the Graduate School of Arts & Science Fordham University and was the Assistant Director of Global Diversity and Inclusion in Career Services at the same university. 

Her performances include I Will Not Be Silenced (1995–present), a one-act play focusing on Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz’s famous letter defending her right to an education and knowledge, and Lágrimas de Mis Madres (1996–2007), an autobiographical play based on her life growing up in New York City’s El Barrio, East Harlem in the 1960s during the Civil Rights Movement. She has collaborated with Sandra Maria Esteves, José Angel Figueroa, Lydia Cortez, Ana Castillo, Papoleto “Jesús” Meléndez, Carmen Bardequez-Brown, and Tato Laviera.

She is founder and President of Latina 50 Plus™, a nonprofit program honoring Latina Pioneers, and, in 2016, was selected by the Bronx Times to be one of 25 Bronx Influential Women. She was honored as one of the Madrinas for El Mueso del Barrio’s 40th Annual Three Kings Day Parade for her work in Latino Arts for women and diversity programming at Fordham University. In July 2021, she received the Bronx Book Fair award for Community Service and Literary Excellence. 

Works Cited

Aponte, Maria. Interview. Conducted by Claire Jiménez and Ricardo Alberto Maldonado, 23 Sep. 2022.