Medium

Melissa Alvarado Sierra

Featured Book

La narrativa activista de Rosario Ferré: feminismo e identidad

La narrativa activista de Rosario Ferré: feminismo e identidad

According to much of Rosario Ferré's work, Puerto Rican women have existed the same as their island: colonized, mistreated and forgotten.

2020

Melissa Alvarado Sierra

Melissa Alvarado Sierra

Stories

Pinned

In

The Riff

by

Melissa Alvarado Sierra

·

Sep 14, 2024

The Comfort of Melancholy in Nick Drake’s ‘Pink Moon’

A sparse and evocative song offers deep emotional solace and reveals the soul of an elusive artist.

The Comfort of Melancholy in Nick Drake’s ‘Pink Moon’

In

The Riff

by

Melissa Alvarado Sierra

·

Aug 25, 2025

The Band That Raised Me, Then Left

On Scaffolding, Scarcity, and The Sundays

The Band That Raised Me, Then Left

In

The Riff

by

Melissa Alvarado Sierra

·

Apr 26, 2025

“Shy Girl” Is Haute and Freddy’s Audacious New Anthem for the Underdog

Few songs land with the kind of power of “Shy Girl.” The song feels like sunlight breaking through a heavy velvet curtain — unexpected…

“Shy Girl” Is Haute and Freddy’s Audacious New Anthem for the Underdog

In

Modern Women

by

Melissa Alvarado Sierra

·

Mar 30, 2024

The Trauma of Revealing a Cancer Diagnosis

Even princesses deserve the time to come to terms with a life-threatening illness

Black and white drawing of a woman with sad eyes.

In

Mind in the Gap

by

Melissa Alvarado Sierra

·

Feb 9, 2024

We Carry Our Histories on Our Faces

A letter to the one who will inherit my history

We Carry Our Histories on Our Faces

In

ZORA

by

Melissa Alvarado Sierra

·

Feb 19, 2020

Why I Abandoned the American Dream and Followed My Puerto Rican Dream Instead

I came back home to show my native homeland the love it deserves

Why I Abandoned the American Dream and Followed My Puerto Rican Dream Instead

Melissa Alvarado Sierra

Melissa Alvarado Sierra

Book Author

Puerto Rican writer. Words in The New York Times, Catapult, Orion, Zora and others. MelissaAlvarado.com

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