About
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Short BioAida Salazar is an award-winning author and arts activist 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 (NCTE Charlotte Huck Award 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 (Spring, 2022), the novel, A SEED IN THE SUN (2022), and the anthology CALLING THE MOON: Writings on Menstruation by MG Authors of Color (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.
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Long Bio
Aida Salazar is an award-winning author and arts activist whose writings explore issues of identity and social justice. She was born in Mexico and grew up in a family of seven children in Southeast Los Angeles. This is where she spent many days sitting in little puddles of water on cement believing she was in the ocean.
Her critically acclaimed and award-winning debut middle grade novel in verse, THE MOON WITHIN (Scholastic), has been hailed as "Important" by the New York Times; as "a worthy successor to Are You There God? It's Me Margaret" by Kirkus Reviews; as "revolutionary and culturally ecstatic" by Juan Felipe Herrera (US Poet Laureate); won an International Latino Book Award for Middle Grade Fiction, a Golden Poppy Award, a Nerdy Book Award, an Americas Award Honor, a NCTE Notable Poetry and Verse Novel Award, and was named a Charlotte Huck Recommended Book by NCTE; it received four starred reviews from School Library Journal, Kirkus, Publisher's Weekly and BookPage; was named a best book of 2019 by NPR's Book Concierge, Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, New York Public Library, The Center for Multicultural Children's Literature, Penn State Graduate School of Education and a best book of the decade by Ellen Hagan for School Library Journal. It was featured on NPR's Weekend Edition, KPFA's "Hard Knock Radio," on "Making Contact" and the "Feeling My Flow" podcast. The Moon Within was printed in paperback as part of Scholastic's exclusive Gold line of award-winning books and has been translated into Spanish by Alberto Jiménez Rioja.
She is also the author of the novel in verse, THE LAND OF THE CRANES (Scholastic) - a story about a little girl and her pregnant mother who are caged in an immigration detention facility. CRANES has received a NCTE Charlotte Huck Award Honor, is a finalist for the Jane Addams Peace Award, and selected as 2021-2022 Project LIT Book Club Pick. LAND OF THE CRANES has also gained starred reviews from Kirkus who called it, "powerful... lyrical... soaring..." from Publisher's Weekly who called it "Lyrical, passionate, and all-too timely" and a star from School Library Journal who called it "beautifully told, heart-wrenching and resonant." It was named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, and Book Page; and was named one of the top ten books of the year by The New York Public Library. It was a BookCon 2020 Middle Grade Buzz Book and was featured on the Cultural Frontline on the BBC's World Service's program Cultural Impact.
Her picture book based on the life of her distant great aunt, Jovita Valdovinos, JOVITA WORE PANTS: THE STORY OF A REVOLUTIONARY FIGHTER (Scholastic 2022), will be illustrated by Molly Mendoza. She wrote the poems for an anthology created by Alina Chau, entitled IN THE SPIRIT OF A DREAM: 13 Stories of Immigrants of Color (Scholastic, Fall 2021) which features thirteen different immigrants illustrated by thirteen different illustrators (all of whom are either immigrant or children of immigrants). She is co-editing with Yamile Saied Méndez, CALLING THE MOON: Writings on Menstruation by MG Authors of Color (2022) (Candlewick Press 2022). Her forthcoming historical novel, A SEED IN THE SUN, about a farmworking girl who longs to be a teatrista and is inspired by Dolores Huerta during the pivotal moments of the 1965 UFW grape boycott, is set to be published in 2022 by Dial Books for Young Readers. She has short stories forthcoming in the middle grade anthology, THIS IS OUR RAINBOW, and the young adult anthology, LIVING BEYOND BORDERS. She has translated two picture books from English into Spanish: PAZ (PEACE) by Baptiste and Miranda Paul illustrated by Esteli Meza; and OJALA SUPIERAS (I WISH YOU KNEW) by Jackie Azua Kramer illustrated by Magdalena Mora. Her story, By the Light of the Moon, was adapted into a ballet production by choreographer, Isabelle Sjahsam, and artist, Roberto Miguel, for the Sonoma Conservatory of Dance and premiered in April 2016. It is the first Xicana-themed ballet in history.
With an MFA in Writing from the California Institute of the Arts, she has performed or read at cultural centers, cafes, alternative art spaces and universities throughout the Southwest and Latin America. She has taught visual art, poetry and fiction to students of all ages. Her writings have appeared in publications such as the Huffington Post, Huizache Magazine, Voices of Our Ancestors: Xicanx and Latinx Spiritual and Healing Practices, Latina Struggles and Protest in the 21st Century USA, and Women and Performance: Journal of Feminist Theory. She was a fellow at Hedgebrook Writer’s Colony, Community of Writer’s Workshop at Squaw Valley, Macondo Workshop, is an alumni of the Op-Ed Project’s Write to Change the World Program and a member of the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She is a founding member of Las Musas, the first collective of debut Latinx authors in US children's literature.
She has also produced festivals, events, protests, artist residencies, and conferences for a range of groups, non-profits, youth and popular movements. She sits on the board of two non-profit organizations, CubaCaribe and BrasArte. She consulted in the planning and design of cultural spaces including LA's Grand Park and La Plaza de Cultura & Arte in Los Angeles.
She lives in a teal house in Oakland, CA with her husband, Latin jazz musician, John Santos and her two fiery artist children whom she homeschooled until they were each in the fifth grade. She is at work on a collection of essays on healing and many children’s stories. Her literary agent is Marietta Zacker of Gallt and Zacker Literary Agency.
Her critically acclaimed and award-winning debut middle grade novel in verse, THE MOON WITHIN (Scholastic), has been hailed as "Important" by the New York Times; as "a worthy successor to Are You There God? It's Me Margaret" by Kirkus Reviews; as "revolutionary and culturally ecstatic" by Juan Felipe Herrera (US Poet Laureate); won an International Latino Book Award for Middle Grade Fiction, a Golden Poppy Award, a Nerdy Book Award, an Americas Award Honor, a NCTE Notable Poetry and Verse Novel Award, and was named a Charlotte Huck Recommended Book by NCTE; it received four starred reviews from School Library Journal, Kirkus, Publisher's Weekly and BookPage; was named a best book of 2019 by NPR's Book Concierge, Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, New York Public Library, The Center for Multicultural Children's Literature, Penn State Graduate School of Education and a best book of the decade by Ellen Hagan for School Library Journal. It was featured on NPR's Weekend Edition, KPFA's "Hard Knock Radio," on "Making Contact" and the "Feeling My Flow" podcast. The Moon Within was printed in paperback as part of Scholastic's exclusive Gold line of award-winning books and has been translated into Spanish by Alberto Jiménez Rioja.
She is also the author of the novel in verse, THE LAND OF THE CRANES (Scholastic) - a story about a little girl and her pregnant mother who are caged in an immigration detention facility. CRANES has received a NCTE Charlotte Huck Award Honor, is a finalist for the Jane Addams Peace Award, and selected as 2021-2022 Project LIT Book Club Pick. LAND OF THE CRANES has also gained starred reviews from Kirkus who called it, "powerful... lyrical... soaring..." from Publisher's Weekly who called it "Lyrical, passionate, and all-too timely" and a star from School Library Journal who called it "beautifully told, heart-wrenching and resonant." It was named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, and Book Page; and was named one of the top ten books of the year by The New York Public Library. It was a BookCon 2020 Middle Grade Buzz Book and was featured on the Cultural Frontline on the BBC's World Service's program Cultural Impact.
Her picture book based on the life of her distant great aunt, Jovita Valdovinos, JOVITA WORE PANTS: THE STORY OF A REVOLUTIONARY FIGHTER (Scholastic 2022), will be illustrated by Molly Mendoza. She wrote the poems for an anthology created by Alina Chau, entitled IN THE SPIRIT OF A DREAM: 13 Stories of Immigrants of Color (Scholastic, Fall 2021) which features thirteen different immigrants illustrated by thirteen different illustrators (all of whom are either immigrant or children of immigrants). She is co-editing with Yamile Saied Méndez, CALLING THE MOON: Writings on Menstruation by MG Authors of Color (2022) (Candlewick Press 2022). Her forthcoming historical novel, A SEED IN THE SUN, about a farmworking girl who longs to be a teatrista and is inspired by Dolores Huerta during the pivotal moments of the 1965 UFW grape boycott, is set to be published in 2022 by Dial Books for Young Readers. She has short stories forthcoming in the middle grade anthology, THIS IS OUR RAINBOW, and the young adult anthology, LIVING BEYOND BORDERS. She has translated two picture books from English into Spanish: PAZ (PEACE) by Baptiste and Miranda Paul illustrated by Esteli Meza; and OJALA SUPIERAS (I WISH YOU KNEW) by Jackie Azua Kramer illustrated by Magdalena Mora. Her story, By the Light of the Moon, was adapted into a ballet production by choreographer, Isabelle Sjahsam, and artist, Roberto Miguel, for the Sonoma Conservatory of Dance and premiered in April 2016. It is the first Xicana-themed ballet in history.
With an MFA in Writing from the California Institute of the Arts, she has performed or read at cultural centers, cafes, alternative art spaces and universities throughout the Southwest and Latin America. She has taught visual art, poetry and fiction to students of all ages. Her writings have appeared in publications such as the Huffington Post, Huizache Magazine, Voices of Our Ancestors: Xicanx and Latinx Spiritual and Healing Practices, Latina Struggles and Protest in the 21st Century USA, and Women and Performance: Journal of Feminist Theory. She was a fellow at Hedgebrook Writer’s Colony, Community of Writer’s Workshop at Squaw Valley, Macondo Workshop, is an alumni of the Op-Ed Project’s Write to Change the World Program and a member of the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She is a founding member of Las Musas, the first collective of debut Latinx authors in US children's literature.
She has also produced festivals, events, protests, artist residencies, and conferences for a range of groups, non-profits, youth and popular movements. She sits on the board of two non-profit organizations, CubaCaribe and BrasArte. She consulted in the planning and design of cultural spaces including LA's Grand Park and La Plaza de Cultura & Arte in Los Angeles.
She lives in a teal house in Oakland, CA with her husband, Latin jazz musician, John Santos and her two fiery artist children whom she homeschooled until they were each in the fifth grade. She is at work on a collection of essays on healing and many children’s stories. Her literary agent is Marietta Zacker of Gallt and Zacker Literary Agency.
Photo Credit: Lluvia Higuera