Aracelis Girmay
Born (1977-12-10) December 10, 1977[1]
OccupationPoet
EducationConnecticut College (BA)
New York University (MFA)

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 Assistant Professor of Poetry at Hampshire College. She has been teaching at Stanford University since summer of 2023.

Early life

Aracelis Girmay is of Eritrean heritage[2] and 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

  1. 1 2 "Girmay, Aracelis". Library of Congress. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  2. ↑ "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.
  3. ↑ "Aracelis Girmay". Poetry Center. February 3, 2016. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Recent fellowship winners". conncoll.edu. Connecticut College. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  5. ↑ Poets, Academy of American. "About Aracelis Girmay | Academy of American Poets". poets.org. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  6. ↑ "WINNERS OF THE GLCA NEW WRITERS AWARD" (PDF). glca.org. Great Lakes Colleges Association. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  7. ↑ "National Book Critics Circle announces finalists for 2011 awards". Los Angeles Times. January 21, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  8. ↑ Dungy, Camille T. (July 28, 2011). "Why I Chose Kingdom Animalia". The Rumpus. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  9. ↑ Girmay, Aracelis (March 28, 2012). "Kingdom Animalia". poetryfoundation.org. Poetry Foundation. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  10. ↑ "What's Your Favorite Poem?". The New York Times. December 22, 2015. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  11. ↑ Teicher, Craig Morgan (January 3, 2016). "In A Dark Time, The Eye Begins to See: A 2016 Poetry Preview". NPR. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  12. ↑ "PW Picks: Books of the Week, April 11, 2016". Publishers Weekly. April 11, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Best books of 2016". Boston Globe. December 7, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  14. ↑ "Aracelis Girmay". Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  15. ↑ Scutts, Joanna (August 14, 2015). "Stop and hear the poetry: spoken words beckon to bustling New York City". The Guardian. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
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