Cristeta Boarini

Cristeta Boarini is a mixed race, Filipino American writer and educator. Originally from suburban Chicago, Boarini graduated cum laude from the University of Minnesota in 2011 with a BA in journalism and cultural studies. Boarini's time as a journalist focused on hyperlocal stories and connecting marginalized voices, which earned her two top honors for her writing from the Minnesota Newspaper Association and the Inland Press Association in 2014. For six years, Boarini was the program director at a nonprofit youth writing center, teaching creative writing and leadership skills. During her tenure, Boarini curated the publication of six anthologies of youth writing. In 2024, she was awarded the Mirrors and Windows Children's Literature Fellowship from the Loft Literary Center. Her short story “What Can't Be Bought” won an honorable mention for the Blue Earth Review’s BIPOC Emerging Writers Award and was published in the Spring 2024 edition. She lives with her husband and daughter, and their dog in South Minneapolis.