Talks, Workshops & Columns
Yesika has facilitated workshops, offered readings, keynotes, and hosted events throughout the United States for 13+ years. Her dynamic stage presence and willingness to be raw and vulnerable resonate with audiences of all ages. Salgado has also been a columnist for various large publications and platforms, exploring identity, romance, culture, and body liberation.
** all services can be delivered in English and Spanish**
Talks, Readings and Keynotes
other topics available upon request
Poetry
Reading /
Performance
A reading by Yesika from any of her books is a blend of heart, humor, and raw honesty. Salgado brings her poetry to life as she shares work that explores her fat body, Los Angeles, her culture, relationships, and family. She holds audiences with familiarity and tenderness as she encourages them to find themselves reflected in her work.
Salvadoran
Identity
Through intimate storytelling, Yesika explores her Salvadoran-American identity as the daughter of refugees. She focuses heavily on El Salvador's matriarchal culture, celebrating its language and traditions, reflecting on what it means to reclaim visibility as a Central American woman, and inviting audiences to examine their own inheritance and belonging.
Body Liberation
In this bold and affirming talk, Salgado explores body liberation through the lens of fatness, Latinidad, and womanhood. Blending personal narrative and cultural critique, she examines shame, desirability politics, and self-love, inviting audiences to unlearn harm and reclaim their bodies as worthy, visible, and sacred.
Mental Health Awareness
With an emphasis on vulnerability, Yesika speaks openly about navigating mental health as a woman of color living with bipolar disorder type two. Through personal storytelling and poetry, she explores stigma, family, relationships, and the daily practice of self-awareness, offering poetry as a tangible tool for reclaiming agency over one’s narrative.
Event Hosting &
Moderation
Yesika Salgado is a dynamic host and moderator who brings warmth, presence, and cultural insight to every stage. From literary events to panels, award ceremonies, and more, she creates engaging, intentional spaces that leave audiences feeling connected and inspired.
Workshops
other topics available upon request
To The Bloom
An all-levels, generative workshop where poets read and discuss published work, explore craft, and write their own original poems. Yesika creates a supportive space that encourages experimentation, confidence, and authentic voice.
Vulnerability as A Superpower
Offered as a standalone session or multi-part series, this workshop invites writers to embrace vulnerability as a creative superpower. Participants read and discuss innovative, emotionally courageous poetry, then respond to guided prompts to craft their own work, cultivating a brave, affirming space where risk-taking leads to bold, original poems.
Love Language
Offered as a standalone workshop or multi-session series, this generative experience centers self-love as a radical act of resistance. Through reading and discussing powerful poems, then responding to guided prompts, participants use poetry as a tool for deeper self-understanding, allowing for an affirming space where honoring yourself becomes both creative practice and pushback against oppressive systems.
Performance Workshop
Bring your words to life in this workshop where voice, rhythm, and presence transform poetry into performance. Salgado guides participants to speak boldly, connect deeply with audiences, and discover the power of their own story on stage.
Columns
samples of previous columns Yesika has written
I spent my childhood in the Palisades homes my mother cleaned. We’re also grieving what was lost.
The daughter of a former Pacific Palisades housekeeper, author Yesika Salgado recounts the home and family that influenced her life and career.