UC San Diego Extension Instructor Awarded First Place at the 2018 International Latino Book Awards

By Stephanie Stevens



Journalist, editor, author and Extension writing instructor Sylvia Mendoza was awarded “First Place, Best Educational Young Adult Book” at the 2018 International Latino Book Awards on Saturday, September 8, for her book, Sonia Sotomayor: A Biography.

“I was thrilled, humbled and overcome with emotion as I came up to the stage and spoke my thanks among esteemed authors in so many genres, celebrating ‘greatness’ in Latino literature,” she said. “I was on the list with one of my favorite authors—Isabel Allende. It was surreal.”

In addition to teaching “Developing Unforgettable Characters” as part of the UC San Diego Extension Creative Writing certificate program and a variety of digital journalism courses, Ms. Mendoza is a freelance writer who has penned hundreds of articles, as well as a wide range of fiction and non-fiction. Her first non-fiction book, The Book of Latina Women: 150 Vidas of Passion, Strength & Success, was a 2007 selection for high schools by the California Readers Association.

Now in its twentieth year, the International Latino Book Awards are produced by Latino Literacy Now, a nonprofit organization co-founded in 1997 by actor and philanthropist Edward James Olmos, and Kirk Whisler, founding president of the National Association of Hispanic Publications. They have honored over 2,400 authors and publishers for their work from all over the world.

To learn more about Sylvia Mendoza, or to discover what courses she’s teaching for us, visit her instructor page. Do you have questions about our courses or about the Creative Writing certificate program? Contact the program manager at ahl@ucsd.edu or (858)534-9760.