Ciena Valenzuela-Peterson

Ciena Valenzuela-Peterson is a writer, artist, and editor from Los Angeles, CA. She currently works as an Artist in Residence for the nonprofit organization Light Bringer Project, providing arts education opportunities to high school students. She graduated from USC with a master’s in Literary Editing and Publishing and a bachelor’s in Creative Writing and Political Science with a concentration in Race, Gender, and the Politics of Justice. Ciena is passionate about the transformative power of art, from the visual to the verbal, and believes everyone deserves access to the tools to help their creativity flourish. A lover of all things gothic, she is fascinated by the macabre and the horror genre’s underrated literary merit. Her work has been published by F(r)iction, Pornstar Martini Magazine, ARC South Pasadena, and Systems Change Alliance. In her spare time, you can find Ciena drawing in her sketchbook, eating takeout with friends, and building elaborate houses in Minecraft.