Label Me Latina/o Fall 2025 Volume 15
Filed under: Fall 2025
A note on the loss of Michele Shaul, co-director of Label Me Latina/o
We mourn the loss of our dear colleague and friend, Michele Shaul, who passed from this life on Monday, October 27, 2025. Michele founded Label Me Latina/o in 2011 with Kathryn Quinn-Sánchez to center Latina/o/x/e experiences and showcase Latinex writers in an open-access online environment. She co-directed the literary journal from its inception until her passing and always referred to it as her favorite labor of love. Michele was many things: she was a mother, grandmother, wife, scholar, teacher, advocate, mentor, and friend. She worked tirelessly to amplify the voices and experiences of Latinex students, writers, and artists. This journal is part of that labor.
We miss Michele dearly. Her warmth, humor, intelligence, generosity, and ferocious advocacy have made the work of this journal possible. We know how proud Michele was of Label Me Latina/o and the many important voices it has showcased in the last 14 years. We will work diligently to continue this important work as we honor Michele’s life and legacy, even as we feel her loss immensely. We will circulate a call for a special remembrance issue in honor of Michele soon.
Michele oversaw many of the day-to-day nuances of the journal. We are very grateful to Michele’s family for their help and support in this process, coming as it does during their own time of profound grief. Moving forward, Melissa Birkhofer will continue in her role as co-director, as she shared the everyday labor of the journal with Michele. Lorna Perez, who has been serving as special issues editor, will move into the role of co-director with Melissa.
We are grateful to our Label Me Latina/o family, and to all of you who have trusted us with your critical and creative work over these years. As we transition to this new phase, we do so with sadness, but also with resolve to continue the important work of Label Me Latina/o. Michele has left us big shoes to fill; we take up that mantle humbly and with gratitude.
Sincerely yours,
Melissa Birkhofer and Lorna Perez
Essay
By Melissa Castillo-Garsow
Dr. Melissa Castillo-Garsow is an Associate Professor of English at Lehman College in the Bronx, NY, and the CUNY Graduate Center PhD program in English, specializing in Latinx Literature and Culture. She is the author of the poetry collection Coatlicue Eats the Apple, editor of the anthology, ¡Manteca!: An Anthology of Afro-Latin@ Poets, co-editor of La Verdad: An International Dialogue on Hip Hop Latinidades, and co-author of the novel, Pure Bronx. Her most recent scholarly book project, with Rutgers University Press’ new Global Race and Media series (March 2020), A Mexican State of Mind: New York City and the New Borderlands of Culture, examines the creative worlds and cultural productions of Mexican migrants in New York City. Her second book of poetry, Chingona Rules, was released with Finishing Line Press in September 2021 and was a Gold Medal Winner of the Juan Felipe Herrera Best Poetry Book Award, International Latino Book Awards (2022). Her co-edited volume, Scholars in COVID Times was released with Cornell University Press in September 2023. At Lehman College, Melissa serves as Director of the English Honors Program. She is also Co-Director of the Bronx Latino History Project, a joint project with the Bronx County Historical Society.
Interview
By Ary Malaver
Ary Malaver specializes in short literary and audiovisual narratives from Latin America and Spain. He also researches contemporary Latinx literature and culture in the United States. Other current interests and areas of research include cyberculture in Latin America, as well as indigenous wisdom and consciousness. He is the author of La brevedad (como poética) (2025), a book on the poetics of brevity, and three books of short fiction and microfiction: Incidentes (2019), Espejos (2022), and En la ruta (2024). These interests intersect with his role at the University of North Georgia as a Professor of Spanish, where he teaches courses such as creative writing and microfiction, and serves as the director of ¡Cortos! Latin American Short Film Festival.
Poetry
By Alberto Quero
Alberto Quero was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Literature and Linguistics, a Master’s Degree in Literature, and a PhD in Human Sciences from the University of Zulia. He is a teacher of English, French, and Spanish as foreign languages. He has published six books of short stories, two books of poetry, and numerous academic articles in the areas of literary semiotics and narratology. He has won several literary awards in narrative and poetry. His texts have been compiled into two anthologies by Venezuelan writers. He is a literary correspondent for Latin America at CKCU FM 93.1 in Ottawa, Canada.
By Marcela Garcés
Dr. Marcela T. Garcés (PhD, University of Minnesota, 2010) is Professor of Spanish at Siena University (Albany, New York). Her scholarship ranges from fashion to film to Spain’s gastronomy, and she enjoys creative bilingual writing. Her graphic memoir, Me llamo Marcela. My Story as a Heritage Speaker was published in August 2024 by The Ohio State University
Press (Latinographix series).
By Erika Gisela Abad
Invested in uplifting Latinx representation, Dr. Abad’s work has examined narratives across television, literary works, and visual art. You can find selected poems in Dialogo, Red Rock Review, Meridians- feminism, race, and transnationalism, and Sinister Wisdom. They’ve written art reviews and essays for online outlets such as Latinx Spaces and NYU Latinx Project’s Intervenxions. Since the beginning of 2024, Dr. Abad has been one of the Arts and Literature editors of Latinx Pop Magazine.
Short Story
By Lucia Galleno-Villafán
Lucia Galleno-Villafán received her Ph.D. in Romance languages and literature with a designated emphasis in film from the University of California, Berkeley. She earned a Master of Science in Organizational Development from Queens University of Charlotte. Prior to that, she earned a master’s in counseling in Education and Mental Health. Her B.A. studies are in linguistics and literature from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. Galleno’s studies are the result of her interests in human development, creativity, speech, and writing. Galleno’s current research is on opera in Latin America. She writes reflexive short stories and essays. She is working on putting together short stories from her parents’ hometown, Pisco.
Book Review
Reviewed by Adrienne Erazo
Adrienne Erazo specializes in contemporary Mexican, Central American, and Latinx literature, with an investigative focus on the representation of the border space, migration, and migrant identity. Her current research studies the symbolic dehumanization of Central American immigrants for critical impact in contemporary Latin American and Latinx literature. In both her teaching and research, she prioritizes themes of social activism and engagement with the Latin American immigrant community. These interests intersect with her role at Appalachian State University as an instructor of Spanish for the Professions, literature, and cultural studies courses.
