Monica Sakura Urso is an award-winning author and storyteller whose work explores the intimate terrain between identity, connection, and the quiet impermanence that shapes human life. With a voice that is both lyrical and precise, her writing illuminates the invisible threads that bind us to one another, to memory, to nature, and to the fleeting moments that transform us.

Her work often reveals what is most familiar yet rarely articulated—how resilience emerges through life’s transitions, how vulnerability becomes strength, and how the evolving self continues to rise from loss, love, and renewal. Across genres, she seeks to uncover the shared human truths that live within personal stories, inviting readers into a deeper encounter with themselves.

Monica is the co-author of the award-winning memoir Can You Open My Eyes?, winner of the 2025 Best Indie Book Award. The series chronicles the extraordinary life and legacy of the late Dr. Qusay Hussein. She is currently completing Book Two of the memoir while developing several new works, including a collection of short stories, a poetry-art hybrid book, and an oracle deck inspired by themes of inner transformation.

Influenced by her multicultural Sicilian and Japanese heritage and the profound experiences that have shaped her life, Monica weaves together literary craft, emotional clarity, and artistic expression. As both writer and visual artist, she works across multiple mediums to tell stories that honor resilience, beauty, and the quiet power of becoming.

Born in Mazara del Vallo, Sicily and raised in Detroit, MI, she now lives and writes in Austin, Texas—where she continues building a body of work centered on truth, wonder, and the shared human search for meaning.