Poet Sara Daniele Rivera wins First Book Award

By: The Associated Press Posted: Last Modified:

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NEW YORK (AP) — A Cuban-Peruvian poet from New Mexico has won the Academy of American Poets’ First Book Award. Sara Daniele Rivera will receive $5,000, a six-week residency at an artist community in the Umbria region of Italy and a book deal with Graywolf Press, which next year will publish her debut collection “The Blue Mimes.”

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/03/2023 (1272 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NEW YORK (AP) — A Cuban-Peruvian poet from New Mexico has won the Academy of American Poets’ First Book Award. Sara Daniele Rivera will receive $5,000, a six-week residency at an artist community in the Umbria region of Italy and a book deal with Graywolf Press, which next year will publish her debut collection “The Blue Mimes.”

Poet Eduardo C. Corral chose Rivera’s manuscript for the first book prize. In a statement Tuesday released through the academy, he praised Rivera for her “beautifully and deftly crafted” poems, and her compelling evocation of loss.

“I felt deeply the grief in this book. I felt less alone after reading it,” Corral wrote.

The 33-year-old Rivera is a writer, artist, translator and educator who lives in Albuquerque. Previous winners of the first book award include John Canaday, Elaine Terranova and Jenny Xie, a National Book Award nominee in 2018.

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Poet Sara Daniele Rivera wins First Book Award

The Associated Press 1 minute read Tuesday, Mar. 28, 2023

NEW YORK (AP) — A Cuban-Peruvian poet from New Mexico has won the Academy of American Poets’ First Book Award. Sara Daniele Rivera will receive $5,000, a six-week residency at an artist community in the Umbria region of Italy and a book deal with Graywolf Press, which next year will publish her debut collection “The Blue Mimes.”

Poet Eduardo C. Corral chose Rivera's manuscript for the first book prize. In a statement Tuesday released through the academy, he praised Rivera for her “beautifully and deftly crafted” poems, and her compelling evocation of loss.

"I felt deeply the grief in this book. I felt less alone after reading it," Corral wrote.

The 33-year-old Rivera is a writer, artist, translator and educator who lives in Albuquerque. Previous winners of the first book award include John Canaday, Elaine Terranova and Jenny Xie, a National Book Award nominee in 2018.

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