Madari Pendas is a Cuban-American writer, visual artist, and translator. She received her MFA in fiction from Florida International University where she was a Lawrence Sanders fellow. Her multi-genre works focus on the surreal aspects that accompany the exile experience and the ways in which Latinidad intersects with other salient parts of her identity. Her first book, Crossing the Hyphen (Tolsun 2021), explores her Caribbean heritage and family lore through the prism of language and immigration. She has participated in residencies with The Kenyon Review, O, Miami, and more. 

She has received literary awards from the Academy of American Poets, Florida International University (in the categories of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction), Arkana, and more. She has also received two pushcart nominations. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Masters Review, PANK, SoFloPoJo, StorySouth, CRAFT, The Florida Book Review, Sinking City, and more.

Pendas is also a visual artist. Her paintings have appeared in several literary magazines, such as Sinister Wisdom, The Flagler Review, The Courtship of the Winds, and more. Her eclectic style includes impressionistic paintings, as well as cartoons and comics.