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Sonia Guiñansaca is an internationally acclaimed poet, culture strategist, and activist who was born in Ecuador (Kichwa-Kañari), and at the age of five, migrated to the United States to reunite with their parents in New York. Guiñansaca helped build some of the largest undocumented organizations in the U.S and co-founded some of the first artistic projects, writers retreats, and workshops for and by undocumented writers. They have been awarded residencies and fellowships from Voices of Our Nation Arts Foundation, BOAAT Writer’s Retreat, Creative Time, and the Hemispheric Institute for Performance & Politics, among others. They have performed at venues such as the Met and the Public Theater in New York City, and featured on PEN America, PBS, Interview Magazine, Ms. Magazine, Teen Vogue, and other media outlets. Sonia self-published a debut chapbook, Nostalgia and Borders (2016), and contributed to the new edition of the ColonizeThis! Anthology and This is Not a Gun. They recently launched House of Alegría, a multi-fold project supporting and investing in emerging undocumented and formerly undocumented Queer, Trans, non-binary artists through an Artist in Residence Program, in-house publishing press, community workshops, and consultations.
Reyna Grande is the author of the bestselling memoir, The Distance Between Us, (Atria, 2012) where she writes about her life before and after she arrived in the United States from Mexico as an undocumented child immigrant. The much-anticipated sequel, A Dream Called Home (Atria), was released in 2018. Her other works include the novels, Across a Hundred Mountains, (Atria, 2006) Dancing with Butterflies (Washington Square Press, 2009), and A Ballad of Love and Glory (Atria, 2022). Reyna has received an American Book Award, the El Premio Aztlán Literary Award, and the International Latino Book Award.The young reader’s version of The Distance Between Us received a 2017 Honor Book Award for the Américas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature and a 2016 Eureka! Honor Awards from the California Reading Association, and an International Literacy Association Children’s Book Award 2017. Reyna’s work has appeared in The New York Times, CNN, The Lily at The Washington Post, and more. She has appeared on Oprah's Book Club and is a member of Voices of Our Nations Arts (VONA) and the Macondo Writer’s Workshop, where she has also served as faculty.
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