María Luisa Arroyo Cruzado

María Luisa Arroyo Cruzado was born in Manati, Puerto Rico, and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts. She received a BA from Colby College, an MA from Tufts University, and an MFA from Pine Manor College.

Arroyo Cruzado writes poetry and prose that code-switch between English, Farsi, German, and Spanish—the cultural languages of her experiences. She is the author of Thought Here Would Cure Me of There (Lily Poetry Review Books, 2024); Landscapes: photos & poems (MultiCreative Wisdom, 2023); Resistencia: Resilience (Human Error Publishing, 2023), a collection of poems and essays; the chapbook Destierro Means More than Exile (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2018); and Gathering Words/Recogiendo palabras (Bilingual Press/Editorial Bilingüe, 2008).

Arroyo Cruzado has been awarded both a Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship and New England Public Radio’s Arts and Humanities Award. She is also the recipient of an honorary degree from Smith College. 

In 2014, Arroyo Cruzado was named the inaugural poet laureate of Springfield, Massachusetts. She is currently a Clark Fellow and is pursuing a PhD in comparative literature at SUNY Binghamton.