Posted on March 31, 2025 by Katelyn Juarez
Award-winning books from the 2023 Premio Campoy-Ada, elegantly displayed on a table beneath a vibrant balloon arch.
The UTSA Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies will host the fifth biannual Premio Campoy-Ada awards ceremony on Thursday, April 3 from 6-9 p.m. at the UTSA Downtown Campus. Established in 2017, the Campoy-Ada is a national award that celebrates children’s and young adult books published in Spanish in the United States and Puerto Rico.
Sponsored by the North American Academy of the Spanish Language (ANLE) and UTSA, the awards range across 12 categories that include fiction, non-fiction and poetry with Latino-centered and universal themes that promote multicultural understanding within U.S. society. The award is named after two ANLE members, authors and scholars, F. Isabel Campoy and Alma Flor Ada. Campoy and Ada—icons in the field of Spanish children’s literature—have written numerous children’s books that promote and bring awareness to Hispanic culture.
Patricia Sánchez, professor and chair of the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies explains the importance of promoting Spanish-language literature.
“If we create an award and an environment where we value and respect Spanish, give it prestige and importance, then kids will see that modeled,” Sánchez said. “We want these authors who are writing amazing stories for audiences in Spanish to continue that work and be honored for what they are doing.”
Explore Further
- View the complete list of winners of the 2024 Premio Campoy-Ada awards.
- RSVP for the ceremony and reception of the Premio Campoy-Ada Awards
Carmen Tafolla, professor emeritus in the UTSA Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies and 2015 State Poet Laureate of Texas, is a recipient of the 2024 Campoy-Ada first place award for Young Adult Poetry, Latino-Centric, for her book, Guerrera (Warrior Girl). Told from the perspective of 12-year-old Chicana Celina, the book focuses on her efforts to cope with stressors of growing up that push her to reclaim her identity, history, and culture.
With 40 books published, mostly bilingual, Tafolla understands the importance of having this literature accessible, “It is very important that we make material available that not only welcomes English language learners into the world of literature but also allows our children and next generations to develop their bilingualism.”
“It is very satisfying that Spanish language literature is being promoted in a city which has been speaking Spanish for the last 300 years,” Tafolla said.
A panel of nine judges, made up of members of ANLE, faculty from the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies, and a Dual Language teacher from Southside ISD, spent the last year reading over 160 entries. Judges selected 37 winners and honorable mentions for the 2024 Premio Campoy-Ada awards based on linguistic and cultural merits, as well as the literary and artistic quality of the books. The next biannual competition is scheduled for 2026, and additional details will be available on the award page following this round of awards.
Two copies of each awarded book will go into the permanent library collection at UTSA and two additional copies will be given to local dual-language public school children and/or libraries.
The awards ceremony will also be livestreamed on the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies Facebook page.
— Katelyn Juarez
