The University of Arizona Press

Raquel Valle-Sentíes, an artist, poet, and playwright, was born and raised in Laredo, Texas. Her poetry has been published in anthologies, textbooks for Spanish students, and various venues in the United States, Mexico, and India. Her first poetry collection, Soy como soy y qué, won the Premio Nacional de Literatura José Fuentes Mares en Letras Chicanas, the first granted to a woman. Valle-Sentíes has authored four full-length plays, including Alcanzando un sueño, La mala onda de Johnny Rivera, Path of Marigolds, and the yet-to-be-produced Two Chicanas in Paris, as well as three one-act plays. Since the 1990s, she has led workshops and read her writings at various venues across the country. As an artist, Valle-Sentíes has won numerous awards for her oil paintings in state and international competitions. Her portraits of Denise Chávez and Sandra Cisneros were featured on posters for the Latina Letters Conference in 2002 and 2005.