Last Updated on August 3, 2024
No matter how many countries Maria Lisella has visited (62), this native New Yorker finds the world at her doorstep in Queens, New York where its residents speak 149 languages.
Her wanderlust began as an undergraduate when she enrolled in a Study Abroad program to Italy to heal a broken heart. That led to a career in travel writing: she’s been a New York Expert for USA Today, Europe editor for Travel Agent Magazine and Travel Market Report, has written advertorials for NYC & Company, AFAR, Travel + Leisure, Wells Fargo Conversations, among others and now contributes features to La Voce di New York and The Jerusalem Post.
The sixth Queens Poet Laureate, and an Academy of American Poets fellow, she curates the Italian American Writers Association literary series, and is the poetry editor for VIA: Voices in Italian Americana.
Her poetry is often based on outtakes of her official assignments: “When traveling, people don’t expect to ever see you again so they share their stories …”
Maria Lisella is now taking to the small stage doing stand-up comedy now and then mostly about death and dying.
Her book Thieves in the Family has been described as “… a collection of postcards from the Global Village…”
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