Mónica Tapiarené [née Martínez Cañas] grew up by the sea, reading Spanish and Latin American fiction and poetry, short stories in English, and poetry in German. Her “Oma” would read Schiller and Goethe to her.  Mónica attended Colegio Rosa de América in Lima, Perú, earned a B.A. in British and American Literature and an M.A. in English-Applied Linguistics from California State University, East Bay.

 

Mónica is a member of the "Palo Verde" Poets, Napa, California.  She was a member of the Benicia First Tuesday Poets and participated in poetry critique groups, read-arounds and poetry readings in the Napa Valley and the East Bay. She studied with Major Jackson at the Napa Valley Writers' Conference.

 

Mónica taught English composition, critical thinking & composition, and introduction to literature at Napa Valley College from 2005 to 2015 where she also coached emerging student writers and mentored bilingual young poets. Mónica also taught Spanish at NVC from 2013 to 2015.

 

Mónica teaches English composition, critical thinking and composition, at Los Medanos College in Pittsburg, to native speakers, international students, and immigrants.  She also teaches English, Spanish, French, and German at The Lafayette Academy in Lafayette, California.

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Her poem “Te Regalo” (“I Give You”) received an honorary mention in the 2010 Love Poetry Contest organized by Benicia First Tuesday Poets, and  “Mi Primer Amor” (“My first love”), was a finalist in the Concurso de Poesía: Homenaje a Federico García Lorca 2013 and published in an anthology by ArtGetrust, Madrid, Spain.

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Néctar, Selected Poems--A Dual-Language Edition with Parallel Text-- was released in July 2020. 

 

Olor a Lluvia, her second collection [Spanish version], was realised in September 2020.

 

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