Aaron A. Abeyta is a Colorado native and the author of four collections of poetry and one novel. For his book, colcha, Abeyta received an American Book Award and the Colorado Book Award. In addition, his novel, Rise, Do Not be Afraid, was a finalist for the 2007 Colorado Book Award and El Premio Aztlan. Abeyta was awarded a Colorado Council on the Arts Fellowship for poetry, and he is the former Poet Laureate of Colorado's Western Slope and was a finalist for the 2019 Colorado Poet Laureate. Abeyta is also a recipient of a Governor's Creative Leadership Award for 2017. Aaron has over 100 publications including 'Wildness, Relations of People and Place 'An Introduction to Poetry, 10th ed.,' Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, & Drama, 8th ed.' 'Conversations in American Literature: Language, Rhetoric, & Culture' 'The Leopold Outlook' 'Colorado Central Magazine' 'The High Country News' and numerous other anthologies and journals. Abeyta also served as mayor of his hometown, Antonito, for eight years, completing his two terms in April, 2022. Aaron, his wife Michele and their daughter, Rut, call Antonito home. Michele and Aaron are co-Directors and founders of The Justice & Heritage Academy, a school based on the three pillars of Environmental, Social, and Food Justice.