Denise Chávez has her roots in New Mexico, Texas and México. She grew up in Las Cruces, NM with her father’s family and in Far West Texas with her mother's family and learned to love life, literature and tacos in both places.

A true child of La Frontera, Chávez is the author of the novels Loving Pedro Infante, Face of An Angel and a short story collection, The Last of the Menu Girls, and most recently, A Taco Testimony: Meditations on Family, Food and Culture, a memoir in food. She has also published a children’s book, La Mujer Que Sabía El Idioma de Los Animales/The Woman Who Knew the Language of the Animals. The author of many plays, she considers herself a performance writer.

Chávez has a B.A. in Drama from New Mexico State University (1971), an M.F.A. in Drama from Trinity University (1974), and an M.A. in Creative Writing from the University of New Mexico (1984).

A novelist, short story writer, playwright, actress and teacher, Chávez has presented readings and workshops for multi-cultural, multi-generational audiences of all ages including students K-12, college students, the elderly, as well as men and women in prison. She has been a Professor at Northern New Mexico Community College, The College of Santa Fe, The University of Houston and New Mexico State University, eventually leaving academic life for grass roots advocacy and her professional work.

Since its inception in 1994, Chávez has served as the Artistic Director of the Border Book Festival, a major national and regional book festival based in Las Cruces and Mesilla, New Mexico. She is also the founder of Sin Fronteras, Writers Without Borders as well as the Cultural Center of Mesilla/El Centro Cultural de Mesilla “C.C.M.,” a multi-cultural arts center based in Mesilla, New Mexico. The C.C.M. is an arts resource center, literary, storytelling, workshop and performance venue and serves as the home of the annual Border Book Festival.

Chávez was the 2003 Hispanic Heritage Foundation Award Honoree in Literature. The award is given to Hispanic role models whose professional achievements and contributions have touched national life and culture, as well as given back to their community. The award ceremony took place September 4, 2003 at the Kennedy Center and was televised September 13, 2004 on NBC.