Tessa Bridal
Posted with permission of author.

TESSA BRIDAL has lived in Minnesota for over 20 years. Born and raised in Uruguay, she is the descendant of Irish immigrants who settled in Argentina over a century ago. Her first novel "The Tree of Red Stars" won the Milkweed Prize for Fiction and first prize with Friends of American Writers. It was selected by the New York Public Library for its 1998 Books for the Teen Age list, was Booklist Editors' choice, and along with "Angela's Ashes", was chosen by Independent Reader as one of five "Most Recommended Books" for 1997.

Bridal has taught creative writing at The Loft, Borders Books, the Minnesota Center for Arts Education, and been a visiting writer at Hamline and North Dakota State Universities.

For the last 16 years, Bridal has worked at the Science Museum of Minnesota as Director of Public Programs in charge of producing and directing the museum's repertory of science demonstrations and live theatre performances. For this work she won the American Association of Museums Education Committee's Award for Excellence, given yearly to an educator for outstanding contributions and innovations in the field of museum education. Bridal has also been Artistic Director of the Minnesota Theatre Institute of the Deaf, and served on several panels and committees for the Minnesota State Arts Board.

She and her husband have two daughters and live outside the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, where they volunteer for the Humane Society and run a foster home for animals.