Marisela Barrera

Marisela Barrera is born from mixed status immigrants along the US-Mexico Borderlands, a Tejana writer and performer with a BFA in Acting from Southern Methodist University and  MA/MFA degrees in Creative Writing, Literature and Social Justice from Our Lady of the Lake University. She was Artistic Director of Cara Mia Theater, Theater Director at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, and has performed in Latino cultural centers in Dallas, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio. Recent original productions include a live-streaming pandemic performance of Tejana Rasquacha with Jump-Start, Ruby Reds, Big Birds y Burras at the Guadalupe, and Tejana Trilogy at Palo Alto College. Favorite directing projects include Yemaya’s Belly with Cara Mia, Lydia with AtticRep at Trinity University, and Ay, Pedro at the Guadalupe. Barrera’s writing has appeared in The Brooklyn Rail, HowlRound, The San Antonio Report, Latina Critical Feminism, Out in SA, Texas Matters, The San Antonio Current, Radio Esperanza 101.5 LP-FM, and TheaterJones, among others. She teaches writing and literature at Northwest Vista College and is a two-time recipient of the National Association for Latino Arts and Culture Fund for the Arts award. Barrera is a company member at Jump-Start Performance Co., where she spins and eats fire. She recently performed in ArtHeist and as Michael Scott in The Office: A Parody at the Tobin. She was  awarded a Luminaria Artist Foundation Award in 2021.