Gloria Amescua (Ah MES qua) has been a writer since she was a child, writing poems and stories throughout her life. She loves books that reach a young person’s heart, head or funny bone and strives to do just that in her writing. She is an educator, poet and children’s book writer. Abrams Books for Young Readers publishes her picture book biography in verse, Child of the Flower-Song People: Luz Jiménez, Daughter of the Nahua, August 17, 2021. Duncan Tonatiuh is the illustrator. An earlier version won the 2016 Lee and Low New Voices Honor Award. A variety of literary journals and anthologies have published Gloria’s poetry. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt published one of her poems in their national textbook literature series.  Gloria received both her B. A. and M. Ed. degrees from the University of Texas at Austin.  The grandmother of two amazing granddaughters, Gloria believes in children, pets and possibilities.

Aida Salazar is an award-winning author, arts activist, and translator whose writings for adults and children explore issues of identity and social justice. She is the author of the critically acclaimed middle grade verse novels, THE MOON WITHIN (International Latino Book Award Winner) and LAND OF THE CRANES (Américas Award, California Library Association Beatty Award, Northern CA Book Award, NCTE Charlotte Huck Honor, Jane Addams Peace Honor). Her forthcoming books include the picture book anthology, IN THE SPIRIT OF A DREAM: 13 Stories of Immigrants of Color (Fall, 2021), the bio picture book JOVITA WORE PANTS: The Story of a Revolutionary Fighter (Fall, 2022), the novel, A SEED IN THE SUN (Summer, 2022), and the anthology MY NEW GIFT: Period Stories by BIPOC Authors (Spring, 2022). Aida is a founding member of LAS MUSAS - a Latinx kidlit debut author collective. Her story, By the Light of the Moon, was adapted into a ballet production by the Sonoma Conservatory of Dance and is the first Xicana-themed ballet in history. She lives with her family of artists in a teal house in Oakland, CA.

Gloria Amescua on Child of the Flower-Song People with Aida Salazar