Benjamin Alire Sáenz (August 16, 1954 – July 28, 2026) was an American poet, novelist and writer of children's books.
Life and career Sáenz was born in Old Picacho, New Mexico, and raised on a cotton farm in Mesilla, New Mexico, near Las Cruces. 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 continued to live and work in El Paso, Texas. 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.
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.
In 2013, Benjamin Alire Sáenz became the first Latino to win the prestigious PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction with Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club.
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.
Sáenz died on July 28, 2026, at the age of 71.
Awards
Wallace E. Stegner Fellowship, poetry 1992 American Book Award, for Calendar of Dust Lannan Literary Award for Poetry 1993 Carry Me Like Water, Southwest Book Award (Border Regional Library Association) Dark and Perfect Angels, Southwest Book Award (Border Regional Library Association) Grandma Fina and Her Wonderful Umbrellas, Book Publishers of Texas Award for Best Book for Children or Young People 2000, Texas Institute of Letters Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood, Américas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature, the Paterson Book Prize, the J Hunt Award, Finalist Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Fiction, Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults He Forgot to Say Goodbye. Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award; Southwest Book Award (Border Regional Library Association); Chicago Public Library, Best of the Best Books for Teens; New York Public Library Stuff for the Teen 2009; Commended Title, Américas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature 2009 A Perfect Season for Dreaming, Friends of the Austin Public Library Award for Best Children's Book, 2008 (Texas Institute of Letters), Bank Street Best Children's Books of the Year 2008, Kirkus Review 2008 Notable Books for Children, Paterson Book Prize Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Stonewall Book Award-Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children's and Young Adult Literature Award, 2013; Honor Book, Michael L. Printz Award, 2013; Pura Belpré Award, 2013. Works "Students I See Every Day", Santa Fe Poetry Broadside, Issue #31, February, 2003 Do Not Mind the Bombs, Narrative Magazine
Poetry
Short stories
Novels Carry Me Like Water, Hyperion, 1995
En el tiempo de la Luz, Rayo/HarperCollins 2006
Young-adult novels
Last Night I Sang to the Monster, Cinco Puntos Press 2009 Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2012 The Inexplicable Logic of My Life, Clarion Books, 2017 Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2021
Children's books
A Perfect Season for Dreaming, Cinco Puntos Press 2008. The Dog Who Loved Tortillas, Cinco Puntos Press 2009
Anthologies
"To the Desert," "Resurrections," Twentieth Century American Poetry (2004), edited by Dana Gioia, McGraw Hill
References
External links
Benjamin Alire Sáenz official page at Simon & Schuster, Inc. Benjamin Alire Sáenz official page at Cinco Puntos Press