About

Photo by Sanni Riihimäki

Erica Mena is a Puerto Rican poet, translator, and book artist. They hold an MFA in poetry from Brown University, an MFA in literary translation from the University of Iowa, and an M.Phil in Culture & Criticism from the University of Cambridge. Their book Featherbone (Ricochet Editions, 2015) won a 2016 Hoffer First Horizons Award. Their translation of the Argentine graphic novel The Eternaut by H.G. Oesterheld and F. Solano Lopez (Fantagraphics, 2015) won a 2016 Eisner Award.

Other translations for Fantagraphics include Wrinkles by Paco Roca, Ladies in Waiting by Santiago Garcia and Javier Olivares, and Spanish Fever edited by Santiago Garcia. Their original poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in PANK, The Kenyon Review, Vanitas, the Dos Passos Review, Pressed Wafer, and Arrowsmith Press. Their translations have appeared in The Kenyon Review, Two Lines, Asymptote, PEN America, and Words without Borders, among others. They’ve received fellowships and residencies from Banff, Vermont Studio Centers, Arteles (Finland), and Trexel (Paris).

Erica has taught as a visiting lecturer and artist at Brown University, Harvard University, Mills College, and the University of Massachusetts, among others.

Puerto Rican by descent, they were born and raised in Boston, and now live in Providence, RI and Fiskars, Finland with one very awkward cat and a growing collection of imaginary beings. You can find them online at www.acyborgkitty.com.

They are the editor in chief and executive director of Anomalous Press, and served as the executive director of the American Literary Translators Association from 2014-2016, and the editor in chief and executive director of Drunken Boat from 2015-2017.

Erica Mena’s CV.