Abeyta, Aaron A.: - aaron a. abeyta, is the author of four collections of poetry and one novel. His book colcha granted him an American Book Award and the Colorado Book Award. He was a finalist for the 2007 El Primo Aztlan and in 2019 was a finalist for Colorado Poet Laureate. Abeyta has received the great honor of a Colorado Council on the Arts Fellowship from poetry, and he is the former Poet Laureate of Colorado's Western Slope by the Karen Chamberlain Poetry Festival, along with the Governor's Creative Leadership Award in 2017. He has showcased his talents in over one hundred publications including, An Introduction to Poetry, 10th ed., Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, & Drama, 8th ed. Conversations in American Literature: Language, Rhetoric, & Culture, The Leopoldo Outlook, Colorado Magazine, The High Country News, and numerous others. His most recent piece fiction was nominated for a Pushcart. Aaron shares his love and dedication for poetry and literature as the MFA Poetry Director at Western Colorado University. He is a professor of English and the Mayor of Antonito, Colorado his hometown.