Esteban Alvarado

About:

Esteban Ismael (Alvarado) has been an instructor with SDCCE since 2015. He received his MFA from the Helen Zell Writers’ Program (University of Michigan), where he was the recipient of a Helen Zell Postgraduate Fellowship, the Rackham International Research Award for Mayan poetics, and the Bain-Swiggett Prize. Previous to his role with the Emeritus Program, he taught writing at the University of Michigan, as in-school literacy resource in the Ann Arbor School District, and as a Creative Arts/Group Facilitator at a drop-in center for homeless and at-risk youth, where he also trained the spoken word team representing Ypsilanti, MI, at the Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam.

Using his knowledge of small publishers and contemporary trends in publishing and literature, Esteban structures the Writer’s Workshop to accommodate students looking to generate new writing, revise existing projects, record family stories, become a better reader, or to simply share in the creativity of others. Each workshop he offers explores its own topic, and some recent course subjects have been The Poetry Workshop, Digital Literature, Diversity Literature, and the Narrative Crash Course. In 2020-2021 alone, there have been 25+ student publications in esteemed literary magazines or newspapers, as well as two students selected as winners in writing contests. In 2017, Esteban guided the West City Writer’s Workshop in publishing an anthology of student writing titled The Stories Start Here. The West City Writer’s Workshop’s newest anthology, The Stories Start Here: Volume 2, is forthcoming in January 2022.

Esteban Ismael’s writing has received recognition from the Idyllwild Writer’s Workshop, First Prize in Poetry from Dogwood: A Journal of Poetry and Prose, and a Pushcart Prize nomination from Spillway. In 2016, he was also named a Second Rounder in the Austin Film Festival’s Television Spec Script Competition for a script based on the animated sitcom Bob’s Burgers. His writing is forthcoming or has recently appeared in Southern Humanities Review, Poetry Northwest, Entropy, The Massachusetts Review, and RHINO, among other fine journals.

A Paradise Hills/National City native, Esteban can likely be found outdoors at an independent cafe, in Barrio Logan, at an independent bookstore, on a hiking trail, or at a park with his beloved rescue, Nessa. He is also an advocate for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, both on and off-campus. In Spring 2022, Esteban will also serve as an editorial intern for Autumn House Press, an independent publishing press and recipient of the 2021 Poetry Fund Grant (Academy of American Poets / Amazon Literacy Partnership).

Selected Publications

Harvard Review Online: https://harvardreview.org/content/jerusalem-artichokes/

Foundry: https://www.foundryjournal.com/ismael.html

Conduit: https://www.conduit.org/esteban-ismael-30

Solstice: A Magazine of Diverse Voices: https://solsticelitmag.org/content/among-the-rocks/