González, Bárbara Renaud, 1953-

Bárbara Renaud González is a free-lance writer, journalist and activist. She received her B.A. and Masters in Social Work and has done post-graduate work at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. Her book, Golondrina, Why Did You Leave Me? was recently published making her the first Chicana author to be published by UT Press.

Since 1997, she has focused mostly on her writing starting with journalism, then essays, investigative articles, opinions, poetry and finally to writing a novel. For five years she wrote a column for the San Antonio Express-News . Her essays and articles have appeared in many anthologies and magazines, including The Nation, The Progressive, Ms. Magazine, The Los Angeles Times and many others.

González has done consulting work for several organizations, including the Esperanza Center for Peace and Justice, the Chancellor for Community Development with Dallas County Community College District, Children’s Medical Hospital in Dallas, Texas and she was a special Projects Consultant for Sun Exploration and Production Company. She co-hosted “Between the Lines,” a weekly public television news show on KERA-TV in Dallas, Texas.

González’s commentaries have aired on NPR’s Morning Edition and LatinoUSA and currently she is working on a Tex-Mex fairytale called “La Pinky” for which she received a literature grant from the Artist Foundation of San Antonio.

Her achievements include a Lifetime Achievement Award from La Raza Faculty at the University of Texas at San Antonio. González has received the Inter-American Press Association Opinion prize, has been a finalist for six Katies in radio commentary and print, was recognized for the Legacy Award and received the Mexican-American Business and Professional Women’s Association Award for “Cultural Leader.” She was also the only Latina/Chicana on the Dallas Commission for Cultural Affairs and organized and led the effort to create the first Latino Cultural Center.

González currently resides in San Antonio, Texas.

Sources: Bárbara Renaud González's resumes (Box 2) and blog: Las True Stories of San Antonio, http://barbararenaud.blogspot.com, accessed October 19, 2009

From the guide to the Bárbara Renaud González papers MS 321., 1981-2009, (University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections)