Magdalena Gómez, Springfield’s Poet Laureate (2019-2022) and an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow (2021 – 2022), has won the coveted, International Latino Book Award for her highly acclaimed memoir noir, Mi’ja (Heliotrope Books, NYC; May, 2022). Other winning authors this year include: Chita Rivera, Julia Alvarez, Carmen Tafolla, Luis A. Miranda and Richard Wolffe.
The 26th annual International Latino Book Awards will be held on October 19, 2024, on the campus of Los Angeles City College. The award ceremony will celebrate this year’s Gold, Silver, and Bronze Medal winners in 105 categories of Children and Young Adult Books, Fiction, NonFiction, Poetry, Translation, and Mariposa books. Special award categories are named after Alma Flor Ada, Isabel Allende, Rudolfo Anaya, Charlie Eriksen, Juan Felipe Herrera, Dolores Huerta, Hank Lacayo, Mimi Lozano, Ambassador Julian Nava, Victor Villasenñor, and Raul Yzaguirre. We now have added an award named after noted author and director Luis Valdez.
Gómez was the co-founder and Artistic Director of Springfield’s first Latinx identified theater, Teatro V!da, (2006 – 2019). Alumni of the program have gone on to become professionals in their chosen fields which include academia; law; health and medicine; mental health practices; social work; business ownership and management; creative entrepreneurs and activists; performing artists in diverse fields, including music, visual, and performing arts; complementary healing arts; professional public speaking; law enforcement; and building healthy, confident families, among others. Many have chosen to stay local and help reinvigorate our communities.
Gómez states: “I congratulate all of the 2024 award recipients from around the world. The founders of ILBA, actor Edward James Olmos and author Kirk Whisler, along with their small and mighty staff and volunteers, have been at this endeavor since 1997. They have made it clear to the world that Latinx Literature and readership, of all genres and in all categories, for and by all ages, by the famous and yet to be known, are integral and necessary to global literary enrichment. The Latinx canon offers global inspiration, education, life enrichment, history and is an economic engine that continues to pick up speed in the literary market place. We need these books to be included in our school curriculums, not as something special, but as necessary and integral to the education and foundational literacy of ALL students.”
Gómez currently serves as a Trustee of the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, and is Commissioner with the Hampden County Massachusetts Commission of the Status of Women.
To learn more about the awards and the ceremony go to www.LatinoBookAwards.org ■