About the Author
Clara Elena García (fka C.E. Wallace) is a Paraguayan poet and novelist based in Upstate New York. She currently serves as the educational director of a shelter for migrant and refugee children awaiting reunification with family members here in the United States.
Clara Elena García has published two full length collections of poetry. The first, Juego de Palabras, was published in 2023 by Valparaíso Ediciones and is available in Spain, Mexico, and Colombia. Her second book, Seven Legendary Monsters, will be published in Summer 2025 by an imprint of Revolutionaries Press in Australia.
Clara’s poetry has been published in the Acentos Review, Alebrijes Review, Axon Journal, Cuéntame Literary Magazine, and Sonic Boom Journal. She also has work in anthologies from Pan Macmillan, Artepoética Press, Flowersong Press, End of the World Publishing, and Band of Bards Comics.
Clara began writing poetry as a teenager, attending the prestigious Breadloaf Young Writers Institute at Middlebury College at the age of twelve. She has been in love with the written word ever since. Her poetry spans years and experiences and covers topics such as mental health, belonging, romance, and the metaphysical.
Clara was selected to represent Paraguay in the 2023 Americas Poetry Festival of New York, hosted by the Cervantes Institute of New York and the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association. She was also invited to present her Spanish-language debut at the 2024 Hispanic/Latino Book Fair in Queens and at the 2025 IberoAmerican Poetry Summit at Barnard College.
Clara appeared as a featured poet at the Bowery Poetry Club in March 2024. That month, she was also invited to speak alongside renowned author Rigoberto Gonzalez and award-winning writer and translator Alexis Romay in the famous “Open Book, Open Mind” series to discuss the importance of Spanish-language poetry. She has been a frequent guest on several talk radio shows in the New York and New Jersey metropolitan areas.
She is currently on submission for her first children’s book as well as a forthcoming YA indigenous fantasy novel-in-verse, both based on Paraguayan folklore.