Deborah Paredez

Deborah Paredez is a poet, scholar, cultural critic, professor, and longtime diva devotee.

Deborah is the author of the critical study, Selenidad: Selena, Latinos, and the Performance of Memory (Duke 2009) and the poetry collections,This Side of Skin(Wings Press 2002) and Year of the Dog (BOA 2020). Her poetry, essays, and commentary have appeared inThe New York Times, Los Angeles Review of Books, National Public Radio, Boston Review, The Georgia Review, Feminist Studies, and elsewhere. She earned a PhD in Interdisciplinary Theatre and Performance from Northwestern University and a BA in English from Trinity University. Her honors include a 2020 Writers' League of Texas Book Award, Latina/o Studies Book Award Honorable Mention, Alfredo Cisneros del Moral Writing Award, and fellowships from Hedgebrook Center for Women Writers, Blue Mountain Center, and the American Academy in Rome. She is a professor of creative writing and ethnic studies at Columbia University and is the Co-Founder of CantoMundo, a national organization for Latinx poets.

Deborah's next book, American Diva, is forthcoming from W.W. Norton in spring 2024.