Xelena González practices the healing arts through writing and movement.  She is a storyteller, dancer, and visiting author who centers self-love in her multi-disciplinary workshops for all ages. Her award-winning picture books include All Around Us, Where Wonder Grows, and Remembering (illustrated by San Antonio muralist Adriana M. Garcia), which have been featured on National Public Radio, at the Library of Congress National Book Festival, and within the New York Times. ​​All three books were named ALSC Notables, appeared on multiple “Best of the Year” lists, and received the Texas Institute of Letters award for “Best Picture Book.” 

Her newest picture book Of the Sun (Barefoot Books, 2025) includes art by renowned Anishinaabe illustrator Emily Kewageshig. It has received the Tomas Rivera Mexican American Book Award, a Notable distinction from the American Library Association, and inclusion within New York Public Library’s Best Books of the Year. Her forthcoming title is The Smallest Thing (Lee & Low, 2027).

Xelena’s writing for young adults appears in the recent anthologies Onward: 16 Climate Fiction Short Stories to Inspire Hope and How to Get Home in the Dark: Poems on Mental Health and Healing. An accomplished poet, essayist, and budding screenwriter, Xelena does not confine her creativity to any one genre or readership. She has worked as a librettist for the Chicana Art Song Project alongside composer Edna Longoria. Their piece Respira was an Official Selection for the 2026 Los Angeles Movie & Music Video Awards. 

In 2024 Xelena manifested Lotería Remedios, a guidebook of affirmations alongside a 54-card deck illustrated by San Antonio printmaker Jose Sotelo Yamasaki. Highlighted in Texas Monthly and Hip Latina, the collection offers positive reflections, divinations, plant and animal medicine, and other tools for self-healing associated with the iconic Mexican game. The project, which has been featured at MagiCon, the New Orleans JazzFest, and multiple universities, will be released in French and Spanish in 2026.

Xelena refined her storytelling skills as a public librarian in her hometown of Yanaguana/San Antonio and in Guangzhou, China, where she served as head librarian for an international school and became a student of qigong. There she developed a method of “tai chi storytelling” that she has since introduced to more than a hundred schools, museums, and libraries around the globe. Through her work as a visiting author, Xelena has incorporated music and movement in all of her programs. She was the Spring 2026 Artist-in-Residence at the International Folk Culture Center, where she explored embodied storytelling for joy and healing. 

An independent artist, Xelena has received support from the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures, the Luminaria Artist Foundation, the Macondo Writers Workshop, We Need Diverse Books, the Highlights Foundation, and most importantly, her readers. Her work is informed by her studies in journalism (BSJ, Northwestern University, 2001) and library science (MLS, Texas Woman’s University, 2011). Over the years she has freelanced for numerous publications, taught belly dancing and swimming, performed as a voice and stage actress, led incarcerated teens and teen parents in creating their own picture books, and raised a remarkably wise daughter along the way.