Angelica Flores: Creative Writing Ignites a Career

Angelica Flores ’17 entered Dominican University as a psychology major with a dream of also stepping into the world of live theater.

But a childhood passion for writing ultimately steered her in another direction. Today, Flores works for the Chicago-based Poetry Foundation as an education programs assistant.

“I’m really loving my role at the Poetry Foundation because I get to work with different students, teachers and schools,” Flores explained.

This work has included administrative support for schools and students participating in Poetry Out Loud, a national poetry recitation competition for high school students. Flores also worked with colleagues to organize the Poetry Foundation’s Summer Poetry Teachers Institute, which featured panels, performances and discussions of poetry-related events of interest to teachers.

Finding solace in writing while a student at Dominican, Flores changed her major to English during her sophomore year, joined the Honors Program and jumped into creative writing, producing her first collection of poems for her distinction project. These poems centered around Flores’ identity as a Mexican-American woman, family relationships, travel experiences and mental health.

Flores also served as assistant poetry editor of the university’s literary magazine,Stella Veritatis, and as president of the Creative Writing Club.

“I think I got a really good introduction to the poetry world,” Flores said. “When it came to writing, I also got a lot of guidance, especially for the draft of my first poetry collection.”