Carmen Tafolla

Carmen Tafolla is an award-winning poet, children’s author, educator, and performer from San Antonio, Texas. She earned degrees from Austin College and a Ph.D. in bilingual education from the University of Texas at Austin. Tafolla was the first Poet Laureate of San Antonio and served as Texas Poet Laureate in 2015; she is also Professor Emerita of Transformative Children’s Literature at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

The author of more than 40 books, Tafolla writes poetry, children’s literature, essays, short stories, and works of nonfiction. Her honors include the Américas Award, International Latino Book Awards, Tomás Rivera Book Awards, and the Charlotte Zolotow Award. Her children’s books include Paletero Man/¡Qué Paletero tan Cool!, a bilingual English-Spanish picture book.