Immigrant Appreciation Day: Anna Lapera

Join us on Friday, May 1st, for this dedicated day to honor the voices, contributions, and vibrant cultures of our immigrant community members who make UMBC feel like home.

Keynote Speaker: Anna Lapera; "Through Story, The Root is Not Far"

Anna Lapera teaches middle school by day and writes stories about girls stepping into their power in the early hours of the morning. Her debut novel, Mani Semilla Finds Her Quetzal Voice, is an International Latino Book Award winner, the 2025 International Literacy Association Honor book, a Jane Adamms Children's Book Award Finalist, and a 2025 American Library Association’s Feminist Book Project selection. It was named one of the Best of 2024 by the School Library Journal, New York Public Library, Booklist, and was recently translated to Spanish. Her second novel, a YA speculative historical fiction story set in 1978 Guatemala, is forthcoming.

Anna Lapera is a pushcart prize-nominated author and educator in the DC area. She comes from a Guatemalan mother and Hawaiian-Filipino-German father, and was raised all over the world. She teaches by day and writes stories about kids stepping into their power in the early hours of the morning. She is a member of Las Musas, a Tin House and Macondo Writers Workshop alum and Kweli Journal mentee, and has received financial support from Tin House, Kweli Journal and SCBWI. When she is not writing or teaching, you can find her visiting trails and coffee shops in DC and Maryland, where she lives with her family. 

Learn more about Anna at: https://www.annalaperawriter.com/

This event is open for full participation by all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal law, state law, and the University's nondiscrimination policy.