Naomi Shihab Nye is an Arab American poet, editor, songwriter, and novelist. Born to a Palestinian father and an American mother, she began composing her first poetry at the age of six. In total, she has published or contributed to over 30 volumes of poetry. Her works include poetry, young-adult fiction, picture books, and novels. Nye received the 2013 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature in honor of her entire body of work as a writer, and in 2019 the Poetry Foundation designated her the Young People's Poet Laureate for the 2019–21 term.
Sergio Troncoso is an American author of short stories, essays and novels. He often writes about the United States-Mexico border, working-class immigrants, families and fatherhood, philosophy in literature, and crossing cultural, psychological, and philosophical borders.
Frieda Friedman was a writer of children's literature who, from the mid-1940s to the late 1960s, published several short, illustrated novels primarily intended for preteen and adolescent girls. Her works enjoyed republication and numerous printings through the 1970s, and in some cases until the late 1980s.
Tomás Rivera was a Mexican American author, poet, and educator. He was born in Texas to migrant farm workers, and worked in the fields as a young boy. However, he achieved social mobility through education—earning a degree at Southwest Texas State University, and later a Doctor of Philosophy degree (PhD) at the University of Oklahoma—and came to believe strongly in the virtues of education for Mexican-Americans.
Latino poetry is a branch of American poetry written by poets born or living in the United States who are of Latin American origin or descent and whose roots are tied to the Americas and their languages, cultures, and geography.
Luci Tapahonso is a Navajo poet and a lecturer in Native American Studies. She is the first poet laureate of the Navajo Nation, succeeded by Laura Tohe.
Rigoberto González is an American writer and book critic. He is an editor and author of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and bilingual children's books, and self-identifies in his writing as a gay Chicano. His most recent project is Latino Poetry, a Library of America anthology, which gathers verse that spans from the 17th century to the present day. His memoir What Drowns the Flowers in Your Mouth: A Memoir of Brotherhood was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Autobiography. He is the 2015 recipient of the Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Publishing Triangle, the 2020 recipient of the PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry,and the 2024 recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Los Angeles Review of Books.
REFORMA: The National Association to Promote Library & Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking, more commonly known as REFORMA, is an affiliate of the American Library Association formed in 1971 to promote library services to Latinos and the Spanish-speaking. It is registered in Washington, D.C. as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Alicia Gaspar de Alba is an American scholar, cultural critic, novelist, and poet whose works include historical novels and scholarly studies on Chicana/o art, culture and sexuality.
The Rainbow Tulip is a 1999 historical fiction children's picture book by Pat Mora and illustrated by Elizabeth Sayles. Published by Viking Children's Books in 1999, it follows the story of a young girl named Estelita. Estelita is the only Hispanic student in the first-grade class and feels very different than the rest of her classmates. Her heritage is different than many of the other children and she struggles with looking and sounding different than the other kids. Estelita is bilingual and speaks English at school while her parents speak only Spanish. She loves her family but notices that even her mother stands out from the other mothers in her class. Estelita embraces her heritage but doesn't always love feeling so different than everyone else. With the help of a colorful costume and a joyous dance around a maypole, Estelita learns to embrace standing out from her classmates. Estelita's thoughts and feelings are at the forefront of this story as she finds comfort with who she is.
Nicholasa Mohr is one of the best known Nuyorican writers, born in the United States to Puerto Rican parents. In 1973, she became the first Nuyorican woman in the 20th century to have her literary works published by the major commercial publishing houses, and has had the longest creative writing career of any Nuyorican female writer for these publishing houses. She centers her works on the female experience as a child and adult in Puerto Rican communities in New York City, with much of writing containing semi-autobiographical content. In addition to her prominent novels and short stories, she has written screenplays, plays, and television scripts.
Benjamin Alire Sáenz is an American poet, novelist, and writer of children's books.
The Border Regional Library Association (B.R.L.A.) promotes libraries and librarianship in the tri-border region of West Texas, Southern New Mexico and Northern Chihuahua, Mexico. The non-profit organization was founded in 1966 and, as of 2009, has over 100 members including libraries, librarians, trustees, and library paraprofessionals. B.R.L.A. events and awards include an annual continuing education workshop and banquet, Librarian and Staff Member of the Year awards and annual scholarship awards. The organization is best known for its annual Southwest Book Awards for noteworthy books about the Southwest published in any genre and geared toward any audience. Past winners include James Carlos Blake, Charles Bowden, Dennis DeConcini, Tomie dePaola, Arturo Islas, Neil Miller, Pat Mora, Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Rubén Salazar, Sergio Troncoso, and Luis Alberto Urrea.
Mimi Reisel Gladstein is a professor of English and Theatre Arts at the University of Texas at El Paso. Her specialties include authors such as Ayn Rand and John Steinbeck, as well as women's studies, theatre arts and 18th-century British literature. In 2011 she was named to the El Paso Historical Hall of Honor.
Graciela Limón is a Latina/Chicana novelist and a former university professor. She has been honored with an American Book Award and the Luis Leal Award for Distinction in Chicano/Latino Literature.
The El Paso Public Libraries is the municipal public library system of El Paso, Texas. The library serves the needs the public in El Paso, Texas, Chaparral, New Mexico and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. It consists of 14 branches and one Bookmobile service. Multiple outreach services are also available including a Homebound service.
Alma Flor Ada is a Cuban-American author of children's books, poetry, and novels. A Professor Emerita at the University of San Francisco, she is recognized for her work promoting bilingual and multicultural education in the United States.
Carmen Tafolla is an internationally acclaimed Chicana writer from San Antonio, Texas, and a professor emerita of bicultural bilingual studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Tafolla served as the poet laureate of San Antonio from 2012 to 2014, and was named the Poet Laureate of Texas for 2015–16. Tafolla has written more than thirty books, and won multiple literary awards. She is one of the most highly anthologized Chicana authors in the United States, with her work appearing in more than 300 anthologies.
Xavier Garza is an author and illustrator of children's books and professor of art at Northwest Vista College in San Antonio.
Dreamers is a children's non-fiction book written and illustrated by Yuyi Morales. The book was first published on September 4, 2018 by Neal Porter books under Holiday House publishers. It chronicles Yuyi Morales' journey from Mexico to the United States with her young son, Kelly. Morales explores the importance of literacy and the function of libraries in society.
