Isela Xospa (Mexico City, 1975) is an independent illustrator, designer, and publisher from Mexico City. Since 2014, she has been the head of Ediciones Xospatronik, an autonomous, independent publishing house for children’s literature that centres themes and characters from Milpa Alta, a Nahua region in the south of Mexico City. Winner of the Antonio García Cubas Award for Best Book and Editorial Work in the field of Anthropology and History in the Children’s Book category. She actively participates in the exchange of experiences in self-publishing books in indigenous languages and visual narratives. Her artistic and research work focuses on experimentation with registration systems typical of native cultures as valid processes of learning and transmission of knowledge. Isela was a British Library Chevening Scholar in 2021-2022, with a project about the first printed books in native languages in Latin America. Part of her project was making information about the collection accessible to the speakers of these languages and laying the groundwork for future exchange with the British Library.
Photo: © Daniel Mordzinski