Carmen Giménez (born February 20, 1971 in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
) is an American poet, writer, and editor.
Life
Giménez earned a Bachelor of Arts from
San José State University
San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sys ...
and a
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.)
is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...
from the
Iowa Writers' Workshop
The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a celebrated graduate-level creative writing program in the United States. The writer Lan Samantha Chang is its director. Graduates earn a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Creative Wri ...
, where she was a Teaching-Writing Fellow. She was recently a professor in English at
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six regi ...
and, prior to that,
New Mexico State University
New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's tw ...
. She teaches in
Bennington College's Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing. Giménez is the founder and publisher of
Noemi Press
Noemi Press is an Small press, independent, Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, 501(c)(3) publisher. Noemi Press was founded in 2002 to publish and promote the work of emerging and established writers, with a special emphasis on writers traditionall ...
, and she is a founding fellow and co-director of
CantoMundo
CantoMundo is an American literary organization founded in 2009 to support Latino poets and poetry. It hosts an annual poetry workshop dedicated to the creation, documentation, and critical analysis of Latinx poetry.
History
CantoMundo was founded ...
. In the fall of 2017, Giménez became editor of ''
The Nation's'' Poetry Section, alongside
Stephanie Burt
Stephanie Burt (born 1971) is a literary critic and poet who is Professor of English at Harvard University. ''The New York Times'' has called her "one of the most influential poetry critics of ergeneration". Burt grew up around Washington, D.C. S ...
. In summer of 2022, Giménez became the Executive Director and Publisher of
Graywolf Press
Graywolf Press is an Independent publisher, independent, non-profit publishing, publisher located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Graywolf Press publishes fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.
Graywolf Press collaborates with organizations such as the Co ...
.
In 2009, Giménez was named to
Poetry Society of America's biennia
New American Poets Series In 2011, she was named a Howard Foundation Fellow in Creative Nonfiction; her memoir, ''Bring Down the Little Birds'', received an
American Book Award
The American Book Award is an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "the ...
; and her third collection of poems, ''Goodbye, Flicker,'' was awarded the
Juniper Prize for Poetry. ''Milk and Filth'' was a finalist for the 2013
National Book Critics Circle Award
The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".[National Book Award for Poetry
The National Book Award for Poetry is one of five annual National Book Awards, which are given by the National Book Foundation to recognize outstanding literary work by US citizens. They are awards "by writers to writers".] , the
PEN/Open Book
PEN/Open Book (known as the Beyond Margins Award through 2009) is a program intended to foster racial and ethnic diversity within the literary and publishing communities, and works to establish access for diverse literary groups to the publishing i ...
Award, the Audre Lorde Award for Lesbian Poetry, and the
Los Angeles Times Book Prize
Since 1980, the ''Los Angeles Times'' has awarded a set of annual book prizes. The Prizes currently have nine categories: biography, current interest, fiction, first fiction (the Art Seidenbaum Award added in 1991), history, mystery/thriller ( ...
.
Awards
* 2009
Poetry Society of America's New American Poets Series
* 2011
Juniper Prize for Poetry
* 2011
American Book Award
The American Book Award is an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "the ...
* 2011–2012 Howard Foundation Fellowship in Creative Nonfiction
* 2013
National Book Critics Circle Award
The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".[National Book Award for Poetry
The National Book Award for Poetry is one of five annual National Book Awards, which are given by the National Book Foundation to recognize outstanding literary work by US citizens. They are awards "by writers to writers".] finalist for ''Be Recorder''
*2019
John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the art ...
Books
Poetry collections
*''Be Recorder'' (Minneapolis,
Graywolf Press
Graywolf Press is an Independent publisher, independent, non-profit publishing, publisher located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Graywolf Press publishes fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.
Graywolf Press collaborates with organizations such as the Co ...
, 2019).
* ''Cruel Futures: City Lights Spotlight Series No. 17'' (City Lights, 2018)
* ''Milk and Filth'' (Tucson,
The University of Arizona Press
The University of Arizona Press, a publishing house founded in 1959 as a department of the University of Arizona, is a nonprofit publisher of scholarly and regional books. As a delegate of the University of Arizona to the larger world, the Press p ...
, 2013).
* ''Goodbye, Flicker'' (Amherst,
University of Massachusetts Press
The University of Massachusetts Press is a university press that is part of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The press was founded in 1963, publishing scholarly books and non-fiction. The press imprint is overseen by an interdisciplinar ...
, 2012).
* ''The City She Was'' (Ft. Collins, Center for Literary Publishing, 2011).
*''Odalisque in Pieces'' (Tucson,
University of Arizona Press
The University of Arizona Press, a publishing house founded in 1959 as a department of the University of Arizona, is a nonprofit publisher of scholarly and regional books. As a delegate of the University of Arizona to the larger world, the Press p ...
, 2009).
Memoir
* ''Bring Down the Little Birds'' (Tucson,
University of Arizona Press
The University of Arizona Press, a publishing house founded in 1959 as a department of the University of Arizona, is a nonprofit publisher of scholarly and regional books. As a delegate of the University of Arizona to the larger world, the Press p ...
, 2010).
Edited anthologies
* ''Angels of the Americlypse : an anthology of new Latin@ writing,'' edited with John Chavez (Denver: Counterpath, 2014).
* ''
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me
''My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: Forty New Fairy Tales'' is an anthology of fantasy stories based on the idea of fairy tales, edited by Kate Bernheimer and Carmen Giménez Smith. The book was published by Penguin Books on September ...
'', edited with
Kate Bernheimer
Kate Bernheimer is an American fairy-tale writer, scholar and editor.
Works
Kate Bernheimer's first three novels, a trilogy based on Russian, German, and Yiddish fairy tales, "The Complete Tales of Lucy Gold" (2011), ''The Complete Tales of Me ...
(New York:
Penguin
Penguins (order (biology), order List of Sphenisciformes by population, Sphenisciformes , family (biology), family Spheniscidae ) are a group of Water bird, aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: on ...
, 2010).
Chapbooks
* ''Jokey Poems Up to Ten'' (Zurich, Dusie Kollectiv, 2013)
* ''Can We Talk Here'' (New York,
Belladonna Books, 2011)
* ''Reason's Monster'' (Zurich, Dusie Kollectiv, 2011)
* ''Glitch'' (Zurich, Dusie Kollectiv, 2010)
References
External links
Author siteFeatured in Poetry Society of America's New American Poets SeriesBiography at the Poetry Foundation"NewsPoet: Carmen Gimenez Smith's Day In Verse" ''NPR'', May 21, 2012
*
Carmen Giménez Smith recorded for the literary archive in the Hispanic Division at the Library of Congress on February 14, 2014.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gimenez, Carmen
1971 births
Living people
21st-century American memoirists
American people of Peruvian descent
American women poets
Ashland University faculty
Hispanic and Latino American poets
Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni
New Mexico State University faculty
San Jose State University alumni
American Book Award winners
21st-century American poets
American women memoirists
American women academics
21st-century American women writers