Gwendolyn Zepeda

Gwendolyn Zepeda (born December 27, 1971 in Houston, Texas) is an American author. Zepeda is Houston's first Poet Laureate, serving a two-year term from 2013 to 2015. She was succeeded by Leslie Contreras Schwartz.

Gwendolyn Zepeda
Zepeda in 2009
Born (1971-12-27) December 27, 1971
Houston, Texas
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Texas Austin
OccupationAuthor
HonoursHouston's Inaugural Poet Laureate
Websitehttp://gwendolynzepeda.com

History

Her father was Mexican American and her mother was a White American of German, Scottish, and Welsh ancestry.[1] She attended Dow and Roosevelt elementary schools, Hamilton Middle School, Reagan High School (now Heights High School), and the High School for Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA).[2] She subsequently attended the University of Texas at Austin.[3]

In June 1997, Zepeda started an online journal called Gwen's Trailer Trash Page. It eventually evolved into Gwen's Petty, Judgmental, Evil Thoughts. She is notable as one of the first bloggers to write and sell a book, and also as a Latina author and the first Latina blogger.

Writing

Her first book, To the Last Man I Slept with and All the Jerks Just Like Him, was a short story collection published by Arte Publico Press in 2004.

Her first novel, Houston, We Have a Problema is a chick lit novel and was published by Grand Central Publishing January 2009.

Her first picture book, Growing Up with Tamales, was published by Piñata Books, an imprint of Arte Publico Press, in May 2008. It is a 2009 Charlotte Zolotow Highly Commended Title and was nominated for a Tejas Star Award.

Piñata Books published her second picture book, Sunflowers, in May 2009.

Zepeda was one of the founding members of Television Without Pity. She recapped the television shows Ally McBeal and 7th Heaven from 1999 to 2001 under the name Gwen.

She blogged for the Houston Chronicle in 2009 and 2010.

Bibliography
  • To the Last Man I Slept with and All the Jerks Just Like Him. Houston, Texas : Arte Publico Press, 2004. (ISBN 1558854061)
  • Growing Up with Tamales. Houston, Texas : Arte Publico Press, 2008.
  • Houston, We Have a Problema. New York : Grand Central Publishing, 2009.
  • Sunflowers. Houston, Texas : Arte Publico Press, 2009.
  • Lone Star Legend. New York : Grand Central Publishing, 2010.
  • I Kick the Ball. Houston, Texas : Arte Publico Press, 2010.
  • Better With You Here. New York : Grand Central Publishing, 2012.
  • Level Up. Houston, Texas : Arte Publico Press, 2012.
  • Falling in Love with Fellow Prisoners: Poems. Houston, Texas : Arte Publico Press, 2013.
  • Monsters, Zombies and Addicts: Poems. Houston, Texas : Arte Publico Press, 2015.
  • Maya and Annie on Saturdays and Sundays. Houston, Texas : Arte Publico Press, 2018.
  • Houston Noir. New York : Akashic Books, 2019.

See also

References
  1. "100 Things Meme." Gwendolyn Zepeda. Retrieved on February 19, 2016.
  2. "Reagan HS grad becomes Houston’s first poet laureate." Houston Independent School District. May 9, 2013. Retrieved on August 19, 2017.
  3. "Gwendolyn Zepeda » About". Retrieved 2020-05-14.
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