Mar­lena Maduro Baraf has a knack for rais­ing orchids. She immi­grat­ed to the Unit­ed States from her native Pana­ma, and her writ­ing is col­ored by this dual iden­ti­ty. She has been inter­view­ing Lati­nos from all walks of life for a series of arti­cles titled Soy/​Somos, or ​“I Am/​We Are.” At the Nar­row Waist of the World, chap­ters of which have been excerpt­ed in Lumi­na, Street­light Mag­a­zine, Blue Lyra Review, and the Westch­ester Review, is her first pub­lished memoir.