David Bowles (author)
David Bowles is an American poet, translator and author.
Life and career
David Bowles was born to residents of the Rio Grande Valley of Texas in 1970. He is of Mexican descent.Much of Bowles' work stems from his research into border legends and pre-Columbian Mesoamerican mythology, featured on Monsters and Mysteries in America. He is currently developing a TV series based on his book Border Lore with Mucho Más Media and Campanario Entertainment.
In addition, Bowles has translated multiple books, poems and stories from languages as diverse as Spanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Mayan, and Japanese. He is also a poet, with two books of verse and poems published widely.
Bowles also writes speculative fiction, such as his MG/YA fantasy series Garza Twins, that features Latino protagonists and Mesoamerican mythology. He worked with Adam Gidwitz on the Unicorn Rescue Society series for Dutton Penguin. His speculative fiction work includes graphic novels like the steampunk title Clockwork Curandera he created with illustrator Raúl "the Third" González.
Bowles resides in Donna, Texas. Holding a Master's in English and a doctorate in Education, he is a professor in the Department of Literatures & Cultural Studies at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, where he teaches children's/adolescent literature and Nahuatl.
In February 2017, David Bowles was elected to the Texas Institute of Letters. In January 2020, he co-founded the hashtag / literary activist campaign #DignidadLiteraria.
Awards and honors
- Flower, Song, Dance: Aztec and Mayan Poetry: awarded the Texas Institute of Letters' 2014 Soeurette Diehl Fraser Award for Best Translation.
- TOP SHELF Book Review Column: received a 2014 Texas Associated Press Managing Editors' Headliners Excellence in Journalism Award for Comment and Criticism.
- The Smoking Mirror was selected as a Pura Belpré Honor Book in 2016 by the American Library Association.
- Inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters in 2017.
- They Call Me Güero has received multiple accolades:
- *Selected Best Book of 2018 by the School Library Journal
- *Selected a 2019 Notable Verse Novel by the NCTE Award for Excellence in Children’s Poetry Committee
- *Named one of the 2018 Best Children's & Teen Books of the Year by Shelf Awareness.
- *2019 Honor Book for the Walter Dean Myers Award for Outstanding Children's Literature in the Younger Reader category.
- *2019 Pura Belpré Honor Book
- *2019 Claudia Lewis Award for Excellence in Poetry
- *Association for Library Service to Children Notable Children's Book, 2019
- *2019 Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award
- *2018 Jean Flynn Award for Best Middle Grade Book from the Texas Institute of Letters
- *Selected for the 2020-2021 Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List by the Texas Library Association
- *Selected as a 2020-2021 nominee for the South Carolina Children's Book Award by the South Carolina Association of School Librarians.
- *The International Youth Library Foundation named it a White Raven, a recommended title for international children’s and youth literature.
- Feathered Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky received the Texas Institute of Letters Award for Best Young Adult Book. It was also selected a Best YA Book of 2018 by Kirkus Reviews and was a YALSA Award Nominee for Excellence in Nonfiction.
Works
Novels
- The Chupacabras of the Rio Grande. Co-authored by Adam Gidwitz. Illustrated by Hatem Aly. New York: Dutton Penguin, 2019.
- Lords of the Earth. Hobart, Australia: Severed Press, 2016.
- Garza Twins Series
- * The Smoking Mirror. Melbourne: IFWG Publishing, 2015.
- * A Kingdom Beneath the Waves. Melbourne: IFWG Publishing, 2016.
- * The Hidden City.. Melbourne: IFWG Publishing, 2018.
Story Collections
- Chupacabra Vengeance. Tigard, Oregon: Broken River Books, 2017.
- The Seed: Stories from the River's Edge. Spring, TX: Absey & Co., 2011.
- Tales of the Feathered Serpent series
- *Rise of the Halfling King. Illustrated by Charlene Bowles. El Paso, TX: Cinco Puntos Press, 2020.
- Clockwork Curandera series
- * Vol. 1—The Witch Owl Parliament. Illustrated by Raúl the Third. New York, NY: Tu Books, 2020.
- 13th Street series
- *Battle of the Bad-Breath Bats. New York, NY: HarperChapters, 2020.
- *The Fire-Breathing Ferret Fiasco. New York, NY: HarperChapters, 2020.
- *Clash of the Cackling Cougars. New York, NY: HarperChapters, 2020.
- *The Shocking Shark Showdown. New York, NY: HarperChapters, 2020.
- Feathered Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky: Myths of Mexico. El Paso, TX: Cinco Puntos Press, 2018.
- Ghosts of the Rio Grande Valley. Charleston: The History Press, 2016.
- Border Lore: Folktales and Legends of South Texas. Beaumont, TX: Lamar University Press, 2015.
- Creature Feature: 13 Frightening Folktales of the Rio Grande Valley. McAllen, TX: AIM Media Texas, 2013.
- Mexican Bestiary. Donna, TX: VAO Publishing, 2012.
- They Call Me Güero: A Border Kid's Poems. El Paso, TX: Cinco Puntos Press, 2018.
- Shattering and Bricolage. Dallas, TX: Ink Brush Press, 2014.
- The Sea-Ringed World: Sacred Stories of the Americas. Translation of Diccionario de mitos de América by María García Esperón. New York, NY: Levine Querido. 2021.
- Me dicen Güero: Poemas de un chavo fronterizo. Translation of They Call Me Güero. New York, NY: Vintage Español. 2020.
- Snake Poems: An Aztec Invocation. Special Edition for Camino Del Sol Series. Nahuatl translation of the original text by Francisco X. Alarcón. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press. March 12, 2019.
- El verano de las mariposas. Translation of Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe García McCall. New York, NY: Tu Books, 2018.
- Flower, Song, Dance: Aztec and Mayan Poetry. Beaumont, TX: Lamar University Press, 2013.