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American poet
Aracelis Girmay (born December 10, 1977)
[1] is an American poet. She is the author of three poetry collections, including Kingdom Animalia (2011), a finalist for the
National Book Critics Circle Award for poetry. She is also an assistant professor of poetry at
Hampshire College . She has been teaching at
Stanford University since the summer of 2023.
Early life
Aracelis Girmay is of
Eritrean heritage
[2] and comes from
Santa Ana , California.
[3] She attended
Connecticut College
[4] and earned a
Master of Fine Arts from
New York University .
[5]
Career
Girmay's first collection was Teeth (2007), for which she won the
Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writers Award.
[6]
In 2011, Girmay published Kingdom Animalia , for which she was named a finalist for the
National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry.
[7] At
The Rumpus ,
Camille T. Dungy said, "Girmay writes of ways we can be brought together, and ways the world separates us."
[8]
Junot Diaz has said his favorite poem is Kingdom Animalia' s titular poem,
[9] writing in
The New York Times :
I remember rereading these lines shortly after I lost my sister:
Oh, body, be held now by whom you love.
Whole years will be spent, underneath these impossible stars,
when dirt's the only animal who will sleep with you
& touch you with
its mouth.
And I was never the same.
[10]
The Black Maria (2016) was Girmay's third collection.
[11] Selecting The Black Maria as a "Pick of the Week" in April 2016,
Publishers Weekly described it as "a moving collection of lyrical, image-thick poems that balance on the knife edge separating vulnerability and unapologetic strength."
[12]
The Boston Globe named it one of the best books of 2016.
[13]
Girmay is an Assistant Professor of Poetry at
Hampshire College .
[14]
Awards
2009 winner, Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writers Award
2011 finalist, National Book Critics Circle Award, poetry, for Kingdom Animalia
2015 winner,
Whiting Award for poetry
[15]
Works
Teeth, Willimantic, CT: Curbstone Press, 2007.
ISBN
9781931896368 ,
OCLC
255642172
Changing, Changing , New York:
George Braziller , 2005.
ISBN
9780807615539 ,
OCLC
57352696
Kingdom Animalia : poems , Rochester, NY:
Boa Editions , 2011.
ISBN
9781934414620 ,
OCLC
830153138
The Black Maria Rochester, NY:
BOA Editions Ltd . 2016.
ISBN
9781942683025 ,
OCLC
991299177
References
^
a
b
"Girmay, Aracelis" . Library of Congress . Retrieved February 4, 2017 .
^
"Inside of An Egg, There is More Than An Egg: Teaching Aracelis Girmay" . poetry.arizona.edu . The University of Arizona. December 20, 2016. Retrieved February 21, 2019 .
^
"Aracelis Girmay" . Poetry Center . February 3, 2016. Retrieved July 20, 2021 .
^
"Recent fellowship winners" . conncoll.edu . Connecticut College. Retrieved February 3, 2017 .
^ Poets, Academy of American.
"About Aracelis Girmay | Academy of American Poets" . poets.org . Retrieved July 20, 2021 .
^
"WINNERS OF THE GLCA NEW WRITERS AWARD" (PDF) . glca.org . Great Lakes Colleges Association. Retrieved February 3, 2017 .
^
"National Book Critics Circle announces finalists for 2011 awards" . Los Angeles Times . January 21, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2017 .
^ Dungy, Camille T. (July 28, 2011).
"Why I Chose Kingdom Animalia" . The Rumpus . Retrieved February 3, 2017 .
^ Girmay, Aracelis (March 28, 2012).
"Kingdom Animalia" . poetryfoundation.org . Poetry Foundation. Retrieved February 3, 2017 .
^
"What's Your Favorite Poem?" . The New York Times . December 22, 2015. Retrieved February 3, 2017 .
^ Teicher, Craig Morgan (January 3, 2016).
"In A Dark Time, The Eye Begins to See: A 2016 Poetry Preview" . NPR. Retrieved February 3, 2017 .
^
"PW Picks: Books of the Week, April 11, 2016" . Publishers Weekly . April 11, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2017 .
^
"Best books of 2016" . Boston Globe . December 7, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2017 .
^
"Aracelis Girmay" . Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice . Retrieved July 20, 2021 .
^ Scutts, Joanna (August 14, 2015).
"Stop and hear the poetry: spoken words beckon to bustling New York City" . The Guardian . Retrieved February 3, 2017 .
External links