Collections by Michelle Brown WSG Marie Varghese

Collections by Michelle Brown

This daughter of Indian immigrants, desi diasporic, queer non-binary femme traces her roots across homelands that stretch from Manhattan skylines to New Jersey suburbs and mango trees that grow in India. Marie comes from a long lineage of storytellers and her creative writing explores the contours of immigrant family life, queer invisibility grief and resilience. Her poem, “Rearranging the Bones” was published in the book “Imanimam: Poets Writing in the Anzalduan Borderlands.” She shares an unpublished work that she wrote about 20 years ago – “Reflections of the Glass Divide.” Although unpublished this powerful piece has been used in various settings to foster conversation helping others to realize what it is like to walk in the shoes of those often seen as “the other” by the majority culture. Marie is the Senior Advisor for the CUNY Start program at Bronx Community College in New York. CUNY Start is an intensive program for incoming college students who have earned a high school diploma or GED but need to increase their academic proficiency in reading, writing, and mathematics prior to enrollment in college credit classes. She is passionate about expanding college access for communities of color, first-generation students, LGBTQIA+ individuals, recent immigrants, and undocumented students.