Isabella A. Salcedo is a poet, oral historian, researcher, adjunct professor, and writing mentor from Central Virginia. She writes poetry with a sense of urgency and determination for life after experiencing a school shooting. Through her creative and academic pursuits, she hopes to understand her capacity for empathy and gratitude, her familial histories, her ever-changing political body, her people and the places she calls home.
Isabella has been a selected reader for READ THE ROOM at Dupont Underground, at Kramers Bookstore, and for the 804 Lit Salon in Washington, D.C. She has been published in UVAToday, Zaum, Cafe MFA, and V Magazine.
Zaum - 29th Edition
May 2025
American University and George Washington University
2024 - Present
Teaches creative writing and academic writing and research methods. Specializes in the oral history method of interviewing and conducting research.
Dupont Underground
2026
Selected as a featured reader for the ongoing poetry reading series that supports artists, facilitates community, and values poetry.
Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America
2025
Teaches college-level academic and narrative writing to rising high school seniors in an intensive five-week summer program hosted at Princeton University and Yale University. Mentors student college application writing from August to December.