10-1-2024
Mariana Llanos
Mariana Llanos is an award-winning writer, poet, artist, and translator. She’s a Pura Belpre Honor author, an award presented by the American Library Association “to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.” She’s also a two-time Oklahoma Book Award winner (2024 and 2022), among other accolades. Born in Lima, Peru, her titles include Vampirita and the Angry Mob, Benita and the Night Creatures, Run Little Chaski!, the audio story Qoritika and the Three Alpacas, among several others. Mariana is passionate about literacy and the arts. In 2017, she received the Oklahoma Human Rights Award and was selected as the Best Latino Artist by the Hispanic Arts Council of Oklahoma. She’s a co-founder of LatinxPitch, a virtual event that boosts the representation of Latino creatives in the children’s publishing industry and co-chair of the Latino Committee for the Firehouse Arts Center in Norman and a member of the Board of Directors for The Potts Family Foundation. In addition to writing, Mariana is an experienced speaker who visits schools regularly. She resides in Oklahoma City with her children.
Chair of the Day
Xavier Neira
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