About Elbina Batala Rafizadeh
Elbina Batala Rafizadeh immigrated from the Philippines with her family in 1964. She worked as a public health nurse in Watsonville and Pajaro Valley for 25 years and 15 years as an academic and researcher. Now semi-retired, she lives in Santa Cruz with her three pups. Her travel essays have been published in Transitions Abroad and Filipinas, and her poems are included in the anthologies Our Own Voice (anthology of poetry and short stories by Filipino/a writers), and Santa Cruz, California-based Journal X, Porter Gulch Review, and phren-z. She is also the editor of a forthcoming anthology of spiritual poetry on contemplative life, Word and Image, of international poets. She will be reading her poems from "A Portable Peace Protest: From Iraq to Palestine," (co-editor) an anthology of peace poems by local poets, Keepers of the Malickong Rice Terrace, her first book of poetry that will be available on Amazon in November 2024, and new poems inspired by last summer's exhibit, Sowing Seeds photo exhibit held at the Museum of Art and History. Please contact her through her website, elbinabatalarafizade.com, for information about her work
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Her Indigenous Filipino Igorot ancestry, past public health work with vulnerable and marginalized populations, and experiences in the natural world inform the direction of her writing, poetry, and photography. Through her work, which reflects her cultural roots and social and climate justice, she hopes to inspire awareness and curiosity.