San Antonio’s Donkey Lady Reimagined in New Graphic Parable by Carmen Tafolla and Thelma Ortiz Muraida

 

                      

For Immediate Release:                                                                                             May 5, 2026

 

San Antonio’s Donkey Lady Reimagined in New Graphic Parable

by Carmen Tafolla and Thelma Ortiz Muraida

Yanaguana/San Antonio, Texas: Aztlan Libre Press is excited to announce the publication of its 17th book, and first Juvenile & Young Adult Fiction title, The Donkey Lady/A Graphic Parable, written by Carmen Tafolla and illustrated by Thelma Ortiz Muraida. Scheduled for release in June, 2026, this book tells the distinctly Southside San Antonio story of the Donkey Lady who has haunted the countryside surrounding the “Donkey Lady Bridge” for generations. At a time when stories of violence against women and cultural erasure persist, The Donkey Lady offers a powerful reimagining of a local myth as a narrative of witness, survival, and resistance.

     Cary Clack, columnist for the San Antonio Express-News, says: “To be a San Antonian is to know and be spooked, from childhood on, by the story of the Donkey Lady. But how many of us knew that it was hatred which killed the gentle, loving La Callada and transformed her into the ghostly Donkey Lady? In just a few beautifully etched words and drawings, their pens dipped in the inkwells of their love, compassion, and sense of history, Carmen Tafolla and Thelma Ortiz Muraida have gifted us with a parable which not only restores La Callada’s humanity but also parallels the inhumanity of our times.”

     Carmen Tafolla, Ph.D, former San Antonio and Texas Poet Laureate and the author of more than forty books, is the recipient of an Américas Award, three Tomás Rivera Book Awards, and eight International Latino Book Awards. Her work centers Mexican American culture, history and personal empowerment.

     Thelma Ortiz Muraida is an accomplished artist and graphic designer whose work spans children’s books, poetry collections, and visual storytelling. She has collaborated with Tafolla on multiple titles, among them Tamales, Comadres and the Meaning of Civilization, bringing layered, expressive imagery to culturally rooted narratives.

     A special Pre-Book Launch Reading, Panel Discussion and Exhibit for The Donkey Lady, with Tafolla and Ortiz Muraida, is scheduled on Thursday, May 28, 2026, 6-8pm, at the World Heritage Center (3106 Roosevelt Ave.). Books will be available for purchase at this free event. Details for a National Book Launch are forthcoming. For more information and to pre-order copies, visit: https://aztlanlibrepress.com/donkey-lady-graphic-parable/

     Review copies and interview requests may be directed to Juan Tejeda at the Aztlan Libre Press contact information below.

ISBN: 978-0-9905779-7-3 * $20 * 48 pages * Trade Paperback * Publication: June, 2026