Press Kit

Gloria Amescua Bios

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Gloria Amescua is an award-winning author, poet and educator. Abuelita’s Song is her latest book. Her picture book biography, Child of the Flower-song People: Luz Jiménez, Daughter of the Nahua, received a Pura Belpré Author Honor, an Américas Award, ILA awards, ALA Notable Books and various Best of Nonfiction lists.

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Gloria Amescua has been writing poems and stories since she was a child. She hopes her books reach a young person’s heart, head or funny bone. Her latest book, Abuelita’s Song, is inspired by her granddaughters. Her picture book biography, Child of the Flower-Song People: Luz Jiménez, Daughter of the Nahua, illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh, is a Pura Belpré Author Honor Book.  It also won three International Latino Book Awards and was a SCBWI Golden Kite finalist, a RISE Feminist Book Project Top Ten selection, and a co-winner of the Américas Award. The Spanish translation by David Bowles, Niña del Pueblo de Floricanto: Luz Jiménez, Hija de los Nahuas, releases fall, 2025. Gloria lives in Austin, Texas.

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Gloria Amescua (Ah-MES-qua) has been a writer since she was a child, writing poems and stories throughout her life. Her latest book Abuelita’s Song, illustrated by Mariyah Rahman, was inspired by her son and granddaughters. Her lyrical picture book biography, Child of the Flower-Song People: Luz Jiménez, Daughter of the Nahua, illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh, was awarded a Pura Belpré Author Honor.  It was recognized as a Junior Library Guild Gold Selection, ALA Notable Books, SLJ’s Best Books 2021, Chicago Public Library: Best Informational Books for Younger Readers, CSMCL: Best Books, and various other Best of Nonfiction/Informative lists. Her book was also a national SCBWI Golden Kite finalist. The Spanish translation by David Bowles, Niña del Pueblo de Floricanto: Luz Jiménez, Hija de los Nahuas, releases fall, 2025.

When she was a girl, she would climb into the cradle of an oak tree and enter the world of words. She loves books that reach a young person’s heart, head or funny bone and strives to do just that in her writing. Gloria is proud of her Mexican American heritage, and her writing reflects her interest in sharing cultural, historical, and social issues. A Hedgebrook alumna and a CantoMundo fellow, Gloria’s poetry has been published in a variety of literary journals, anthologies, and a national textbook literature series.  Gloria received both her B. A. and M. Ed. degrees from the University of Texas at Austin.

Gloria is represented by Taylor Martindale Kean of Full Circle Literary.