Marisa Cadena

Marisa Cadena is a Brooklyn-based writer, curator, producer and hospitality industry veteran. She has a BA in Anthropology from UC Berkeley and an MA in Latin American and Caribbean Studies from NYU. In 2018, she was awarded a writing residency at Blue Mountain Center. Her cocktail recipes have appeared in New York Magazine, Health Magazine, Coconuts and Collards: Recipes and Stories from Puerto Rico to the Deep South (Von Diaz, 2018), The Bloody Mary: The Lore and Legend of a Cocktail Classic, with Recipes for Brunch and Beyond (Brian Bartels, 2017), among others.

 

From 2014 through 2017, Cadena curated all shows at Lucky Luna gallery featuring photographers, sculptors, textile artists, print-makers, painters and digital artists. Since 2021, she has worked with the artist, A.J. Springer, curating her shows at the Other Art Fair in Brooklyn (2021/2022/2023/2024) and Strong Rope Brewery (2023). She wrote the introduction to Babes in the Abyss (Snap Collective, 2024), a book on the artwork of A.J. Springer.

 

Stories from her memoir, Cocaine & Canela, about her experience as a light-skinned Mexican-American from the Midwest moving alone to Mexico at nineteen appear in New World Writing, Eclectica and Hobart. She is currently seeking representation for the full manuscript.

 

Cadena is also co-founder and producer of The Palace Reading Series in Greenpoint, Brooklyn held at The Palace 206 Nassau Ave. on the 3rd Tuesday of every month. She is also the producer and co-host of People at the Core podcast. Marisa continues to look for opportunities to support and collaborate with established and emerging artists and writers.