Marie Varghese (she/her; they/them) is a desi diasporic queer non-binary femme who comes from a long lineage of storytellers. Her creative writing explores the contours of immigrant family life, queer (in)visibility, grief and resilience. She is the Senior Advisor and Campus Trainer for CUNY Start at Bronx Community College, a nationally recognized program for incoming college students who need to increase their academic proficiency in reading, writing and mathematics prior to enrollment in college credit classes. While supporting students on campus, she focuses on three interdependent areas of college success: academic content, academic behaviors, and academic systems. Marie is passionate about expanding college access for communities of color, first-generation students, LGBTQIA+ folks, recent immigrants and undocumented students.
In addition to her role at CUNY Start, she works as a College Consultant for the Sadie Nash Leadership Project, an organization designed to strengthen, empower, and equip young women as agents for change in their lives and in the world.
Her poem, “Rearranging the Bones,” was recently published in Imaniman: Poets Writing in the Anzaldúan Borderlands in homage to Gloria Anzaldúa and her iconic work Borderlands/La Frontera. She is also an alumna of Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation, a national network for writers of color.
