Defiant Corazón: Yesika Salgado’s Los Angeles

Yesika Salgado is the L.A. poet whose words have become a voice for a generation of Angelenos finding beauty in a raw examination of Los Angeles. Born and raised in L.A. to Salvadoran parents, Yesika helped create Chingona Fire, the groundbreaking Latina feminist poetry collective that carved out space for women of color to tell their stories loudly and unapologetically. Yesika discusses identity, Boyle Heights, love, loss, body positivity, and why Los Angeles remains at the center of her work. From her bestselling poetry collections Corazón, Tesoro, and Hermosa, to her rise from open mic nights to becoming one of the most recognizable contemporary Latina poets in America, Yesika has always written with honesty, vulnerability, and defiance.