On Monday evening, April 25th, the award-winning Dominican-American poet and author Elizabeth Acevedo, visited with the St. Andrew's community. Elizabeth is the author of With the Fire on High, Clap When You Land, and her multi-award winning book, The Poet X.
Elizabeth is not only an award-winning writer, she has another passion - performing. Click this link to see her performance of "Hair" at the Women of the World Poetry Slam - it's captivating! She's performed at some of the largest US venues as well as internationally. She began her career as a teacher and continues that work today by working as a visiting instructor at an adjudicated youth center for incarcerated women and teenagers in Washington, DC.
Her three books, all young adult novels, have won numerous awards. Her first, The Poet X, the most distinguished, has won ALA's Best Fiction for Young Adults, the 2019 Michael Printz Award, Pura Bulpre Award, and the National Book Award for Young People's Literature.
After a short reading, the community was treated to a Q&A with the author. Elizabeth was thoughtful, engaging and funny. She shared that her favorite meal from her favorite bodega during her teenage years in NYC was a hoagie, chips and an Arizona Iced Tea. When asked, she shared that her favorite poet is Lucille Clifton and her book, Good Woman, a book she has read and re-read several times. And - she let us in on a little secret. Elizabeth is working on her fourth novel, due out in 2023. Looking forward to it!
Follow her on Instagram @acevedowrites and her website, acevedowrites.com.