Carmen Tafolla, State Poet Laureate of Texas 2015, First Poet Laureate of the City of San Antonio 2013-2014, & former President of the Texas Institute of Letters, is the author of more than 30 books. Her latest poetry book is Carmen Tafolla: New and Selected Works (2018, TCU Press) and in 2021 she co-authored The Last Butterfly (FlowerSong Press.) In 2023 Penguin will release her novel-in-verse, Guerrera! Recipient of the Américas Award, the Charlotte Zolotow, Top Ten Books for Babies by the Fred Rogers Corporation, two Tomás Rivera Book Awards, five International Latino Book Awards, and numerous other distinctions, Tafolla has been recognized by the National Association of Chicana & Chicano Studies for work which “gives voice to the peoples and cultures of this land.”