Zilia Balkansky-Sellés reads "José Martí in Central Park" and "Julian." Zilia is a Bloomington, Indiana, based writer and actor. She was published in Comparative Woman (Louisiana State University). She has a poem included in Trigger Warnings, edited by Joan Hawkins and Kalynn Brower, two poems included in Stormwash: Environmental Poems, edited by Hiromi Yoshida,  and in the 2023 Ryder Magazine Poetry Edition.  The play she co-wrote with Wild Swan Theater, Myths, Masks, and Magic: World Stories of First Times, was performed in Michigan schools and libraries and at the University of Michigan Museum of Art. She has given readings at the Writers Guild at Bloomington spoken word events.  Zilia has a Master's in Information Science from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in Folklore Studies from Indiana University. She works for the Hutton Honors College at Indiana University as an Academic Advisor. In Summer 2022, she hiked and summitted Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.