Carmen Maria Pursifull (née Padilla; September 1, 1930 – January 26, 2015) was a New York City Latin dance and Latin American music figure of the 1950s, and since 1970 in Illinois, is an English-language free verse poet who was a top ten finalist nominee for Poet Laureate of that state in 2003. Since late 2009 she has been a local public television personality in the Champaign-Urbana area.