BORDER BOOK FESTIVAL
FEATURED WRITER AND ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

LESLIE SCHWARTZ, executive editor of the Homeboy Review
JANAE PADILLA, art director

Leslie Schwartz is the author of two award-winning novels. The recipient of many grants and awards, she founded and edits the literary magazine, The Homeboy Review which seeks to bridge the worlds between established, mainstream literary writers and those whose voices are seldom heard. She teaches writing at prisons, low-income school communities and at Homeboy Industries, the largest gang-intervention agency in the country. She also teaches fiction writing at UCLA extension and the Iowa Writers Workshop Summer Literary Festival.

Janae Padilla is the art director of the Homeboy Review, the official literary magazine of Homeboy Industries. She is also the account analyst for Homeboy Industries’ finance department. She is currently a part-time college student and recently spoke at the Women-Empowering-Women conference in New York City.

Visit their website at www.homeboy-industries.org