Gabriela Baeza Ventura has been promoted to director of Arte Público Press, succeeding founding director Nicolás Kanellos, who has stepped down.
Kanellos founded the press, which is based at the University of Houston, in 1979, and it has gone on to become the the country’s largest publisher of Latino authors. Kanellos was awarded a National Humanities Medal last year for his contributions to Hispanic publishing.
“It’s time to turn it over to the next generation,” Kanellos told the Houston Chronicle last fall, when he announced his planned departure. “These people have been with us for more than 20 years and know their job backward and forwards. They’re already leaders nationally, so it’s not like I’m leaving a void or anything.”
Baez Ventura has served as deputy director at the press since 2023. She began working for the press as a research assistant while studying for her doctorate in Spanish at the University of Houston, which she completed in 2001. Now a professor of U.S. Latino literature at the university, she became the full-time managing editor at Arte Público in 1999, and was promoted to executive editor in 2000. She can be contacted at gbventura@uh.edu.
A previous version of this article stated that Baez Ventura is an associate professor. She is a professor.
