Cecilia M. Fernandez is an independent journalist and college instructor. Her work has appeared in Latina magazine, Accent Miami, Upstairs at the Duroc: the Paris Workshop journal, Vista magazine, and Le Siecle de George Sand. She has a master’s degree in English Literature from the University of Miami and an MFA in creative writing from Florida International University. She teaches writing and literature at Broward College and Miami International University of Art and Design. Adios, Mi Pequena Habana (Beating Windward Press) is the Spanish translation of her debut memoir, Leaving Little Havana: A Memoir of Miami’s Cuban Ghetto. Revolution uprooted six-year-old Cecilia from her comfortable middle-class Cuban home and dropped her into the low-income neighborhood of Miami’s Little Havana. Her philandering father focused on rebuilding his career, chasing the American promise of wealth and freedom from the past. Her mother spiraled into madness trying to hold the family together and get him back. Neglected and trapped, Cecilia rebelled against her conservative culture and embraced the 1960s counter-culture – seeking love, attention and a place of her own in America. But immigrant children either thrive or self-destruct in a new land. Will Cecilia beat the odds?
