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The Southwest Word Fiesta is pleased to introduce our advisory board, whose time and and wise guidance have made our event flourish.

In alphabetical order, they are:

Daniel Chacón

Daniel Chacón

Daniel Chacón is author of six books of fiction, including Hotel Juárez, Stories, Rooms and Loops and the novel and the shadows took him. He has won the Southwest Book Award, the American Book Award, the Pen-Oakland Prize for Fiction, and the Hudson Prize. He is cohost of Words on a Wire, a radio show about books and ideas. He is chair of the department of Creative Writing at the University of Texas, El Paso.

Denise Chávez

Denise Chávez is a Chicana novelist, playwright, actor, and teacher. Her books include The King and Queen of Comezón, A Taco Testimony: Meditations on Family, Food and Culture, Loving Pedro Infante, Face of An Angel, The Last of the Menu Girls, and a children’s book, La Mujer Que Sabía El Idioma de Los Animales/The Woman Who Knew the Language of the Animals. Chávez is the owner and bookseller at Casa Camino Real, a Bookstore and Multicultural Art and Community Center, on the historic Camino Real with her husband, photographer Daniel Zolinsky.

Stella Pope Duarte

Stella Pope Duarte
Stella Pope Duarte

Stella Pope Duarte’s works include If I Die in Juárez and Writing Through Revelations, Visions and Dreams: The memoir of a writer’s soul among many others. Her awards include the Luis Leal Award for Distinction in Chicano/Latino Literature, the 2009 American Book Award, Southwest Book of the Year, Women in American History Award, Arizona Book of the Year, and the Foreword Magazine Book of the Year. Stella was also honored as one of four Women Makers of Arizona, and included as part of the PBS Special: MAKERS: Women Who Make America.

Juan Felipe Herrera

Juan Felipe Herrera photo
Juan Felipe Herrera

Juan Felipe Herrera is a poet, artist, and activist. He was the U.S. Poet Laureate from 2015 to 2017. Herrera’s experiences as the child of migrant farmers have strongly shaped his work, which focuses on the nexus of art and community. His publications include collections of poetry, prose, short stories, young adult novels and picture books for children. He is the recipient of the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry, the PEN/Beyond Margins Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and an honorary doctorate from Oregon State University. He lives in Fresno, California.

Sharman Apt Russell

Sharman Apt Russell
Sharman Apt Russell

Sharman Apt Russell has written a dozen books translated into eight languages. Her Diary of a Citizen Scientist: Chasing Tiger Beetles and Other New Ways of Engaging the World won the 2016 John Burroughs Medal for Distinguished Nature Writing. She is also the author of three novels, including the YA Teresa of the New World and the science fiction Knocking on Heaven’s Door. She lives in the beautiful Gila Valley.