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American poet and author From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Benjamin Alire Sáenz (born August 16, 1954) is an American poet, novelist, and writer of children's books.
Benjamin Alire Sáenz | |
---|---|
Born | Doña Ana County, New Mexico, U.S. | August 16, 1954
Language | English |
Nationality | American |
Education | St. Thomas Seminary (BA) University of Texas at El Paso (MA) |
Period | 1990s–present |
Genre | Novels, short stories, poetry, young adult literature |
Subject | Hispanic and Latino American culture, LGBT |
Notable works | Carry Me Like Water, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, The Inexplicable Logic of My Life, Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club |
Notable awards | American Book Award (1992) PEN/Faulkner Award (2013) |
Sáenz was raised near Las Cruces, New Mexico.[1] He earned a BA in Humanities and Philosophy from St. Thomas Seminary in Denver, Colorado and a MA in creative writing from the University of Texas at El Paso. He continues to live and work in El Paso, Texas.[2] After 15 years of marriage to his wife, an El Paso family court judge, he came out as gay, and they filed for divorce in 2009.[1]
Sáenz was 54 when he came out. In an interview, he confirmed that he had struggled with this topic for a long time and that he saw writing as a way to overcome it.[3]
In 2013, Benjamin Alire Sáenz became the first Latino to win the prestigious PEN/Faulkner Book Award for Fiction with Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club.[4]
On October 29, 2022, Sáenz received the Inaugural Hummingbird Award in Literary Arts from the Tulsa City-County Library. The event was hosted by the Tulsa City-County Library and the Hispanic Resource Center.
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