A former Milwaukee Poet Laureate, Brenda Cárdenas was born and raised in Milwaukee and has also lived elsewhere in Wisconin (Beaver Dam, Fond du Lac, Appleton, and Menasha). She obtained her undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, a certification to teach English and Spanish at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh, and a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (Poetry) at the University of Michigan.
She has authored Trace (Red Hen Press), winner of the 2023 Society of Midland Authors Award for Poetry and silver winner of Foreword Review’s Indie Poetry Prize; Boomerang (Bilingual Press); and three chapbooks. She also co-edited the anthologies Resist Much/Obey Little: Inaugural Poems to the Resistance and Between the Heart and the Land: Latina Poets in the Midwest. Her poems have been published in anthologies and literary magazines such as Poetry, American Poetry Review, Prairie Schooner, and the Library of America’s Latino Poetry anthology among many others.
Cárdenas has enjoyed collaborating with musicians, composers, visual artists, and choreographers. In 2024, her poem “Para los Tin-Tun-Teros,” set to choral music by Daniel Afonso, was performed by the National Concert Choir at Carnegie Hall. She is Professor Emerita of English at University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, where she taught Creative Writing and U.S. Latine/x Literatures, and serves on the Board of Directors of Woodland Pattern, a poet- and artist-run nonprofit book center, gallery, and performance space in Milwaukee.
For more information about Brenda Cárdenas' poetry accomplishments, please see brendacardenas.net.
For more information about her poetry readings, workshops, and talks, please check out https://www.facebook.com/WisPoLo
For information about (and to register to participate in) Cárdenas' Wisconsin Poet Laureate project, please visit wisconsinpoetlaureateproject.com
Note: This project encourages Wisconsin poets and visual artists of all ages and experiences to participate.
Poet Laureate Service Date:
January, 2025 to December, 2027