What's Your Story To The World Gonna Be?

Bio (Short Version):

Mexican American filmmaker, author and youth literacy activist e.E. Charlton-Trujillo has written several award-winning books for teens and children, most notably Fat Angie, an ALA Stonewall Award Winner, and Prizefighter en Mi Casa, a Parents’ Choice Silver Honor Winner. They are also a recipient of the Michael L. Printz Award for The Collectors. e.E. is the co-founder of the nonprofit Never Counted Out which empowers at-risk youth via book access and creative mentorship. 

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Bio (Medium Version):

Mexican American author, filmmaker and youth literacy activist e.E. Charlton-Trujillo has written several award-winning books for teens and children, most notably the Fat Angie series, an ALA Stonewall Award Winner, and Prizefighter en Mi Casa, a Parents’ Choice Silver Honor Winner. Their first picture book, Lupe Lopez: Rock Star Rules, co-authored with NYT Bestseller Pat Zietlow Miller, illustrated by award-winning illustrator Joe Cepeda, releases June 2022. e.E. is the Executive Director of the nonprofit Never Counted Out that supports access to books and creative  mentorship for at-risk youth and is co-host of the Instagram Live series Off The Cuff. Trujillo is a proud member of the Las Musas collective.

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The Unofficial Bio:

Mathis, Texas population 5,034 is where I picked up a Kodak 110 camera and a #2 pencil at roughly the same time. Both attempts at storytelling were cringe-ish but admirable given that I was four. Even then, I sensed there was story all around me -- in conversations at the Dairy Queen over Belt Buster burgers or between GED classes at my adopted dad's adult education program. Story was everywhere and me? I wanted in on it. 

 

Along the way, I wrote a lot of equally cringe-ish poetry, short stories and one act plays, but eventually they improved. I've lived on the East Coast, West Coast and right down the middle. 

I've spoken at nearly every major book festival in the country with some of the most brilliant, political and hilarious people. I have the honor of being a Madrina with Las Musas for 2021. #MentorshipRocks

I've made films, music videos and seen a world I never imagined growing up in Mathis, Texas population 5,034. In all of this, I never forgot where I came from, the struggles I faced, and the work it took to find my own voice.