Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Benjamin Alire Sáenz is an American poet, novelist, and writer of young adult and adult fiction, widely recognized for his lyrical writing style and his exploration of identity, family, love, and cultural heritage. He was born in 1954 and raised near Las Cruces, New Mexico. 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. After 15 years of marriage to his wife, he came out as gay. 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. He is one of the first Chicano writers to achieve major success in both poetry and fiction, and his work often reflects his Mexican-American background as well as themes of belonging and self-discovery. His writing is often praised for its poetic language, emotional depth, and sensitivity to the experiences of young people navigating identity, culture, and relationships.

Benjamin Alire Sáenz has received many important awards throughout his career that recognise his achievements in poetry, children’s literature, and fiction. Early in his career, he was awarded a Wallace E. Stegner Fellowship in poetry, in 1992 American Book Award for Calendar of Dust and a *Lannan Poetry Fellowship in 1993, highlighting his talent as a poet. Carry Me Like Water and Dark and Perfect Angels, won the Southwest Book Award in 1996. His children’s books, such as Grandma Fina and Her Wonderful Umbrellas, earned the Best Children’s Book award, his young adult fiction Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood receiving the Americas Book Award, Paterson Book Prize, and he was named a finalist for the Los Angeles Book Prize, while He Forgot to Say Goodbye and A Perfect Season for Dreaming the “best of” recognitions from libraries and literary organisations.

His most celebrated young adult novel, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, a deeply emotional coming-of-age story about friendship and love, which became highly popular for its honest portrayal of LGBTQ+ identity and was later followed by a sequel, Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World, won the Stonewall Book Award, the Pura Belpré Award, and a Printz Honour, becoming one of his most influential works. In 2013, he also became the first Latino to win the prestigious PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club, and in 2022 he received the inaugural Hummingbird Award in Literary Arts from the Tulsa City-County Library, confirming his lasting impact on contemporary literature.