Books, Readings, and Writings

Breathtaking in every form, The Opposite of Breathing is Cement is an ode to healing by exposing long-held wounds to the light in hopes that something fruitful is created. Icess Fernandez Rojas' debut collection dribbles between political arches, cultural identity, love, and mental illness where in dark corners of the mind exists a brave flicker from a candle. That light is more than hope, it's the start of something new. "We yell our whispers and /save subtlety for our art" in "Forgetting Cuba;" in "My Mothers," Rojas asks to "Recall baptism in clear waters, salted by Earth and divine prayers / slapped awake by rolling waves." She plays with form in duplexes and letters, which provides a brevity to the otherwise intense pacing of this collection. Yearn for a change that "comes in pixels and presence / in proclamations and the pounding of feet on cement." Through these poems, bruises, lacerations, and grief are laid bare in unapologetic language. However, from these words also comes joy from the most surprising places, happiness among the ruins of despair, and images of something better always promised around the next corner.

The Opposite of Breathing is Cement is available now from the following retailers

Buy on Barnes and Noble

Buy on LibroMobile

Buy on Bookshop.org

Buy on Amazon

Hear me read from the collection here

Hear me read Shine, Shimmer, Freedom at the Sin Muros Festival at the link below

Hear me read “Ode to Anxiety” from The Opposite of Breathing is Cement.


Where to find some more of my work

Fiction and Poetry

Forgetting Cuba, Queen Mobs Teh Book

Happy Hunting, Houston Noir

The Bastard Need, Rabble Lit

Everything in its Place, The Fem Lit

My Mothers, The Feminine Collective

I Promise, The Feminine Collective (Also in Love Notes from Humanity, The Lust, Love and Lost Collection.”

How the Dead Want to be Remembered, The Feminine Collective

Beginnings, Minerva Rising

Of Love, Death, and Marriage: The Fabled Reputation of Don Armando Mejia, Soul’s Road: A Fiction Collection

In the Aftermath

Interviews and Guest Posting:

Interview Icess Fernandez Rojas, Rabble Lit

How to be a Star Giant, Nuestra Palabra

An Advisor Explains: Why Students of Color Must Work Harder

Freely Wandering Cuba Gets Harder to do Under Trump 

Readings, Awards, Panels, and Commissioned Work

The Colony, various workshops and panels

Fresh Arts Summit, 2019

AWP, What’s Craft Got to Do With It, 2019

WriteFest 2019 panels: Publishing Online: Viral Stories and Why Print’s Not Queen Anymore; Our own voices: Making Marginalized Narratives Valuable in Honest Responsible Ways; Getting the Word Out Through the Social Media Megaphone

Around the Block: A Night of Literary Voices

Presentation: Afro-Latino Identity, Houston Community College, September 2017

Nuestra Palabra, 18th Anniversary

The Owl of Minerva Award – AfroLatina Retreat in Galveston

Love, Culture, and Identity, an Afro-Latina Reading.

Fellowships and Workshops (Taken)

Winter Tangerine, 2019, Sing That Like Dovesong

Kimbilio Fellow Summer 2017 and Summer 2018

Dos Brujas Workshop Summer 2017

VONA/ Voices of Our Nation Foundation, Summer 2015

Non-Fiction and Journalistic Work:

Letter to the Child Never Coming, Queen Mobs

Confession of a Surviving Liar, Dear Hope

Journalistic Portfolio on Contently

Letter to the Child Never Coming