Xelena González practices the healing arts through writing and movement. She is a storyteller, dancer, and visiting author who centers self-love in her multidisciplinary workshops for all ages. Her award-winning picture books include All Around Us, Where Wonder Grows, and Remembering (all illustrated by longtime friend Adriana M. Garcia), which have been featured on National Public Radio, in The New York Times, and at the Library of Congress National Book Festival. Forthcoming works include The Smallest Thing and “The World Within,” an essay in the young-adult anthology Onward. Her newest title, Of the Sun, is a powerful and hopeful ode to Indigenous children.
Her writing for adults spans poetry, essays, screenwriting, and a body of visionary fiction entitled Lotería Remedios, a guidebook of affirmations alongside a 54-card deck illustrated by Jose Sotelo Yamasaki. Forthcoming in Spanish and French, the collection offers positive reflections, divinations, plant and animal medicine, and other tools for self-healing associated with the iconic Mexican game.
A member of the Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation, Xelena has become a sought-after workshop leader and keynote speaker on topics such as radical self-love, creative early literacy strategies, inhabiting story through music and movement, and reclaiming Indigenous identity in Latinx communities. Her daughter, Yemaya Xol, is her greatest creation.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Author
