Carmen Tafolla

Named State Poet Laureate of Texas in 2015, Dr. Carmen Tafolla is an award-winning poet and children’s books author, translator, educator, storyteller, and performance artist. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including two Américas Awards, five International Latino Book Awards, two Tomás Rivera Book Awards, and the Art of Peace Award. She was the first Latina to be awarded the Charlotte Zolotow Award for her picture book, What Can You Do with a Paleta? honoring the author of the best picture book text published in the U.S.

Dr. Tafolla’s novel-in-verse Warrior Girl/Guerrera has been awarded the 2024 Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award for Middle Readers. Her award-winning picture books include What Can You Do with a Rebozo? illustrated by Amy Cordova which was awarded a Pura Belpré Honor for Illustration and ALA Notable Children’s Book, a Junior Library Guild selection, and listed on the Texas Library Association’s 2×2 Reading List; What Can You Do with a Paleta? illustrated by Magaly Morales which was awarded the Charlotte Zolotow Award, the Tomás Rivera Mexican American Book Award, and the Américas Award for Children’s Literature; and  I’ll Always Come Back to You illustrated by Grace Zong. Dr. Tafolla’s short story collection The Holy Tortilla and a Pot of Beans was awarded Tomás Rivera Mexican American Book Award. 

Dr. Tafolla taught for many years at University of Texas San Antonio and she has been called by Rigoberto Gonzales “the Zora Neale Hurston of the Chicano Community”. She is the past president of the Texas Institute of Letters, the former State Poet Laureate of Texas, and prior to that served as the first Poet Laureate of San Antonio.  She also served as a national judge for the Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award for fourteen years.

Listen to Dr. Tafolla’s interview with Maria Hinojosa on NPR and performance  “Empowering Mexican-American Youth Through Writing”. Visit Carmen at www.carmentafolla.net