Carmen Rivera is an OBIE award-winning playwright whose more than 40 plays have been performed across the United States, Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe. JULIA DE BURGOS: CHILD OF WATER was first produced at the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre in 1999 and videotaped for the archives at The Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts. Among her other major works are LA GRINGA, for which she received an OBIE Award in 1996; it has been playing at Repertorio Español since then, making it Off-Broadway's longest running Spanish language play. LA LUPE: MY LIFE, MY DESTINY opened Off-Broadway in 2001 and received an ACE Award (Association of Journalists and Writers) for Best Production. TO CATCH THE LIGHTNING produced at the PRTT in 1997 was nominated for an ACE Award for Best Production. Ms. Rivera co-wrote with Candido Tirado CELIA: THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF CELIA CRUZ, the successful off-Broadway musical that received an HOLA Award for Achievement in Playwriting and has toured Miami, Puerto Rico, Chicago and Spain. Rivera also collaborated, with director/choreographer Maria Torres on THE MAGIC OF THE SALSA KINGDOM, which was presented at the Salsa Congress in Southport, England in 2009. Ms. Rivera is co-founder with Candido Tirado of Educational Play Productions (E.P.P.), which brings plays that deal with social issues to New York City public school students and educators.