Dr. Carmen Tafolla (CarmenTafolla.net) received a Tomás Rivera Book Award for Warrior Girl. She is the 2015 State Poet Laureate of Texas and the former president of the Texas Institute of Letters. An award-winning poet and children’s author, storyteller, performance artist, motivational speaker, scholar, and university professor, she is the author of more than forty books and a professor emeritus of Transformative Children’s Literature at UT San Antonio. Her numerous awards and distinctions include the prestigious Américas Award, the designation of first city Poet Laureate of San Antonio, six International Latino Book Awards, three Tomás Rivera Book Awards, two ALA Notable Books, the Art of Peace Award, the Charlotte Zolotow Award, and the Texas Institute of Letters Lifetime Achievement Award. She lives in San Antonio, Texas.
