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Publicity Photo and Biography:
Bessy Reyna Photo
by Susan Holmes
Bessy Reyna is an award-winning Latina poet. Her latest book, The Battlefield of Your Body, a bilingual
poetry collection, was released in June, 2005 by the Hill-Stead Museum. Her first poetry collection in English is
She Remembers, published in 1997 by Andrew Mountain Press. Ms. Reyna’s Spanish language writing,
published in Latin America, includes a poetry chapbook, Terrarium, and a collection of short stories, Ab Ovo.
Reyna's poems and stories are found in U.S. and Latin American literary magazines including the award-
winning "Connecticut Review" and in numerous anthologies including El Coro: A Chorus of Latino and Latina
Poetry, In Other Words: Literature by Latinas of the United States, The Arc of Love: Lesbian Poems, and The
Wild Good.
Ms. Reyna's awards include First Prize in the Joseph E. Brodine Poetry Competition and artist award grants
from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts and the Greater Hartford Arts Council. In 2001 she was named
Latina Citizen of the Year by the State of Connecticut Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission. In 2006 she
received the Pioneer Award at the Inaugural Diversity Awards presented by the Vice Provost for Multicultural
and International Affairs at the University of Connecticut and a Living Legend Award from Saint Joseph College
Department of Social Work. In 2007 she received the One Woman Makes A Difference Award from the
Connecticut Women's Education and Legal Fund.
She is a monthly opinion columnist for The Hartford Courant and was a contributor to "Northeast," the Sunday
Magazine of The Hartford Courant. She writes an arts and culture page for the Hispanic newspaper Identidad
Latina.
For three summers she conducted radio interviews with the poets appearing at the nationally renowned Sunken
Garden Poetry Festival in Farmington, CT. A frequent lecturer and guest artist at colleges, libraries and
museums, Reyna is also a Master Teaching artist for the Connecticut Commission on the Arts and an artist in
the Partners' Program in Education conducting writing workshops in Hartford-area Schools sponsored by the
Bushnell Auditorium. She has judged the national poetry competition sponsored by the Astraea Foundation and
the poetry section of the annual Connecticut Book Award.
Ms. Reyna has performed in solo and group poetry readings and has presented writing workshops in high
schools, colleges, libraries, arts organizations and at conferences throughout New England.
Born in Cuba and raised in Panama, Reyna is a graduate of Mt Holyoke College and earned her Master's and
Law degrees from the University of Connecticut.
Bessy Reyna Photo
by Susan Holmes
Bessy Reyna is an award-winning Latina poet. Her latest book, The Battlefield of Your Body, a bilingual
poetry collection, was released in June, 2005 by the Hill-Stead Museum. Her first poetry collection in English is
She Remembers, published in 1997 by Andrew Mountain Press. Ms. Reyna’s Spanish language writing,
published in Latin America, includes a poetry chapbook, Terrarium, and a collection of short stories, Ab Ovo.
Reyna's poems and stories are found in U.S. and Latin American literary magazines including the award-
winning "Connecticut Review" and in numerous anthologies including El Coro: A Chorus of Latino and Latina
Poetry, In Other Words: Literature by Latinas of the United States, The Arc of Love: Lesbian Poems, and The
Wild Good.
Ms. Reyna's awards include First Prize in the Joseph E. Brodine Poetry Competition and artist award grants
from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts and the Greater Hartford Arts Council. In 2001 she was named
Latina Citizen of the Year by the State of Connecticut Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission. In 2006 she
received the Pioneer Award at the Inaugural Diversity Awards presented by the Vice Provost for Multicultural
and International Affairs at the University of Connecticut and a Living Legend Award from Saint Joseph College
Department of Social Work. In 2007 she received the One Woman Makes A Difference Award from the
Connecticut Women's Education and Legal Fund.
She is a monthly opinion columnist for The Hartford Courant and was a contributor to "Northeast," the Sunday
Magazine of The Hartford Courant. She writes an arts and culture page for the Hispanic newspaper Identidad
Latina.
For three summers she conducted radio interviews with the poets appearing at the nationally renowned Sunken
Garden Poetry Festival in Farmington, CT. A frequent lecturer and guest artist at colleges, libraries and
museums, Reyna is also a Master Teaching artist for the Connecticut Commission on the Arts and an artist in
the Partners' Program in Education conducting writing workshops in Hartford-area Schools sponsored by the
Bushnell Auditorium. She has judged the national poetry competition sponsored by the Astraea Foundation and
the poetry section of the annual Connecticut Book Award.
Ms. Reyna has performed in solo and group poetry readings and has presented writing workshops in high
schools, colleges, libraries, arts organizations and at conferences throughout New England.
Born in Cuba and raised in Panama, Reyna is a graduate of Mt Holyoke College and earned her Master's and
Law degrees from the University of Connecticut.
