Deborah Paredez

Deborah Paredez (born December 19, 1970) is an American poet, scholar, and cultural critic. She is the author of the critical memoir American Diva, the poetry collections Year of the Dog and This Side of Skin, and the scholarly study Selenidad: Selena, Latinos, and the Performance of Memory. She is co-founder (and served as co-director, 2009-2019, 2021-2023) of CantoMundo, a national organization that supports Latinx poets and poetry. She lives in New York City where she is a professor of creative writing and ethnic studies at Columbia University.