Nina Serrano



Nina Serrano (born 1934) is an American poet, writer, storyteller, and independent media producer who lives in Oakland, California. She is the author of Heartsongs: The Collected Poems of Nina Serrano (1980) and Pass it on!: How to start your own senior storytelling program in the schools (Stagebridge). Her poems are widely anthologized, including the literary anthology, Under the Fifth Sun: Latino Writers from California (Heyday Books), and three anthologies of peace poems edited by Mary Rudge from Estuary Press. She translated two chap books from Peruvian poet Adrian Arias. She currently leads storytelling workshops at senior centers and elementary schools through Stagebridge.org.

Serrano has won international film awards, including the XXXIII Mostra internazionale D'Arte Cinematografica award for Que Hacer: What is to Be Done?; and the Kraków, Poland International Short Film Festival award for After the Earthquake: Despues del terremoto.

Serrano served as an Alameda County Arts Commissioner, and is a former director of San Francisco's Poetry in the Schools program. She was a co-founder of the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts in San Francisco's Mission District, where she is still actively involved. In addition, she is a long-time producer of radio programs on Pacifica Radio station KPFA (94.1 FM) in Berkeley, California, currently hosting La Raza Chronicles on Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m. and Open Book the first Friday of each month at 3pm PST.

Nina Serrano appears in the video Frida en el espejo/Frida in the Mirror" by Adrian Arias and music by Greg Landau to be shown at the SF Film Festival in April 2009. She is a great fan of band Carne Cruda and their new song Oakland's Tight. She is consultant for Round World Media and Fig Leaf Technologies.

Nina Serrano was awarded Oakland Magazine's "Best Local Poet" award in 2010.