Alondra Adame

Alondra Adame is an essayist, poet, and graduate student earning their MA in English at CSU Chico. Alondra uses she/they pronouns and identifies as a pansexual Chicana/x. She has a passion for supporting first-generation college students like herself and hopes to continue teaching creative writing in the future. You can follow her on Twitter: @cinnamonqueen__.

Early Life
Alondra grew up in Sutter, CA, a conservative area of rural Northern California. "' It was predominantly white and started my identity crisis early on since my parents were Mexican immigrants from Tuxpan, Jalisco. A lot of my extended family members from my father’s side ended up in the area which allowed me to grow up with a lot of my cousins who I watched navigate this mysterious idea of the “American Dream” that our parents seemed to wish for us. These experiences inform a lot of my work.'"

Goals
Hopefully to write a couple of poetry books and some essay collections. "'I think it’d be nice to write a show someday but I’ll have to figure out how to do that first. However, I like teaching creative writing best. I hope to inspire other writers to write as well.'"

Inspirations
Currently, deadlines in grad school. "'However, on occasion, I’m inspired by the parts of the world that grab my attention and won’t let go. If I write about something, I’m swinging on some kind of extreme emotion which usually forms into a line for a poem or an idea in an essay. You can always find exactly where my heart started and then my mind took over.'"

Philosophy
"'I grew up hoarding quotes from books, movies, and music that made me feel accepted and alive. I think my writing comes from a place of wanting to heal or understand myself better in my own words. I want to know what matters to me and if those words are beautiful or helpful to someone else, that’d make me happy too.'"

Publications
“My Brothers’ Sister” (essay) in PALABRITAS

“The Audacity to Live” (essay) in The Nasiona

“Jota” (poem) in Honey & Lime’s OCEANS & TIME poetry blog

“Beginnings” and “Split” (poems) in Crepe & Penn (now CP Quarterly)

“BLOOD SPILLS ON DESERT SOIL” (poem) in Mangrove Journal