Amy Serrano

• Name — Amy Serrano • Born — 8 November 1966 • Birthplace — Havana, Cuba • Citizenship — United States • Education — Bachelor of Arts, Sociology and Anthropology • Known for — Documentaries, Books, Human Rights • Occupation — Author, filmmaker, human rights activist

Serrano was born in a post-revolutionary Cuba, and after having to separate from her family and homeland just before the age of 2, Serrano was relocated to Miami as a political refugee. Serrano attended Florida International University and graduated with a degree in Sociology and Anthropology with a focus on Latin-American and Caribbean Studies, Race and Ethnicity. In 2007, Serrano relocated from her hometown of Miami, Florida to New Orleans, Louisiana to work on her writing. • Illustration — Amy Serrano, Documentary Film Director

In 2009, Serrano was commissioned by the Louisiana Division of the Arts to produce a photographic essay on a new population. After spending considerable time with the Garifuna people, Serrano wrote and produced From Punta to Chumba: Garifuna Music and Dance in New Orleans, which explores the role of females in the Garifuna community as cultural tradition bearers. From Punta to Chumba was first published by Louisiana's Living Traditions. In late 2013, Serrano released her first book of poems, Of Fiery Places and Sacred Spaces, which deals with the poetics of place and space. Her poems have been published in Latino Stuff Review, Ella Magazine, MiPo Gallery, Into the Woods, The Peauxdunque Writers' Alliance Annual Anthology, and Poets and Artists Magazine. In 2016, she was invited to write the foreword to photographer Diego Quiros' fine art photography book, Alchimie Photographique. In 2017, she edited the Into the Woods Anthology and wrote the foreword. In 2024, the book, Saudades:Anthological Contemplations of Persons, Places, Identity and Time. was published. Through poetry, short stories, song lyrics, art, and fine art photography, 28 artists from 12 countries join Amy to undertake the exploration of the beautiful complexity of this word that may be for an ardent desire, a deep seated longing, a bittersweet nostalgia, a haunting melancholy, a mysterious incompleteness, a desperate yearning, a poignant sadness, an elusive wish, an irreplaceable loss, a pervasive sense of missingness, and other nuances unraveled in the book. Though the word saudade is untranslatable into English, the experience of this emotion is universal. Saudades delves into the different forms of the emotion of saudade as it pertains to persons, places, identity and time. Serrano has been a Senior Fellow of the Human Rights Foundation in New York; a Fellow of the National Hispana Leadership Institute in Washington D.C.; a board member of Voz de Mujer, a women’s empowerment and leadership organization based in Texas; an Advisory Council member of the Faulkner Society’ in New Orleans; a member of the Spanish Embassy's Young Hispanic Leader’s Association in Washington D.C.; and an appointed founding Board member of Ambassador Armando Valladares' non-governmental organization, Human Rights for All. Presently, Serrano is at work on the film, AIRMAN: The Extraordinary Life of Calvin G. Moret [USA], on the inspiring life and legacy of New Orleans’ last known Tuskegee Airman, this is the story of one man’s love of country and humanity, even during unconscionable times. She is also writing the book, "Mr. Moret and I: The Story and Legacy of My Unexpected Friendship with Louisiana's Last Tuskegee Airman." Both are targeted for release in the Fall of 2026.