Erika Sánchez

Erika L. Sánchez (born c. 1984) is a poet and writer. She is the author of poetry collection Lessons on Expulsion and a young adult novel I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, a 2017 finalist for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. She is a professor at DePaul University.

Erika Sánchez
Sánchez at the 2018 Texas Book Festival
Born1983/1984 (age 36–37)
Alma materUniversity of Illinois at Chicago
University of New Mexico
OccupationWriter, poet
Known forLessons on Expulsion
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
AwardsFinalist, National Book Award for Young People's Literature; winner, Tomás Rivera Award
Websiteerikalsanchez.com

Early life and education

Sánchez, the daughter of Mexican immigrants, is from Cicero, Illinois.[1] She has two brothers.[1] She grew up bilingual, speaking both Spanish and English.[2] She attended Morton East High School,[1] then the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she was Phi Beta Kappa and graduated magna cum laude.[3] After college she traveled to Madrid, Spain to teach English with the Fulbright program and pursued poetry.[3] She then earned an MFA in poetry from the University of New Mexico.[4]

Career

Poetry

Sánchez won a Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship in 2015.[5] Her first poetry collection, Lessons on Expulsion,[6] was published by Graywolf in July 2017.[7] The Washington Post named it to a list of best poetry of July 2017, calling it a "fierce, assertive debut".[8] In The New York Times, Kathleen Rooney praised Sánchez's "wrenching explorations of guilt and shame, grief and misogyny...Her depictions of misery hurt and haunt," particularly through her use of the second person "to draw readers close to difficult subjects."[9] In 2017, United States poet laureate Tracy K. Smith recommended Sánchez as among the best new voices in poetry.[10]

Prose

Sánchez's first young adult novel was I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter.[11][12][13] It follows 15-year-old Julia Reyes who first struggles to live up to the rule-following example set by her sister Olga, then begins to learn things were not as they seemed when Olga dies unexpectedly. Bustle named the book to a list of the best 15 young adult books appearing in October 2017[14] and it was a finalist for the National Book Award for young people's literature.[15] It also won the 2018 Tomás Rivera Award.[16]

For three years, Sánchez also served as the sex and love advice columnist for Cosmopolitan for Latinas.[17]

Teaching

From 2017 to 2019, Sánchez was an arts fellow at Princeton University, teaching poetry and fiction writing.[3] As of 2020, she serves as a professor at DePaul University, teaching English and writing.[2]

Personal life

Sánchez lives in Chicago.[18]

References
  1. Schoenberg, Nara (October 19, 2017). "Chicagoan Erika Sanchez: From daughter of undocumented immigrants to National Book Award finalist". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
  2. "My America: Erika L. Sánchez". The American Writers Museum. 2020-02-26. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  3. "Erika L. Sánchez". Lewis Center for the Arts. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
  4. Cepeda, Esther J. (July 20, 2016). "What I've Learned: 'Poetry Chose Me,' Says Writer Erika L. Sánchez". NBC News. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  5. "Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships". Poetry Foundation. 6 October 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  6. Spears, Brian (18 May 2017). "Why I Chose Erika L. Sánchez's Lessons on Expulsion for the Rumpus Poetry Book Club". The Rumpus.net. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  7. "Fiction Book Review: Lessons on Expulsion: Poems by Erika L. Sánchez. Graywolf, $16 trade paper (96p) ISBN 978-1-55597-778-8". Publishers Weekly. May 15, 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  8. Lund, Elizabeth (July 17, 2017). "Why W.S. Merwin endures, and other best poetry to read this month". Washington Post. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  9. Rooney, Kathleen (4 August 2017). "Five Poets Offer Eloquent Views of the American Experience". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  10. Flock, Elizabeth (June 23, 2017). "4 poets you need to read, from new poet laureate Tracy K. Smith". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  11. "I AM NOT YOUR PERFECT MEXICAN DAUGHTER by Erika L. Snchez". Kirkus Reviews. August 2, 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  12. "Children's Book Review: I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez. Knopf, $17.99 (352p) ISBN 978-1-5247-0048-5". Publishers Weekly. August 7, 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  13. "I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez". School Library Journal. September 18, 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  14. White, Caitlin (October 1, 2017). "The 15 Best New YA Books Coming In October 2017". Bustle. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  15. "2017 National Book Award finalists revealed". CBS News. October 4, 2017. Retrieved 2017-10-04.
  16. "Book Award Winners". Tomás Rivera Book Award - Texas State University. 2019-11-01. Retrieved 2020-02-01.
  17. "Erika L. Sánchez". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  18. Gibbs, Adrienne Samuels (July 10, 2017). "Poet Erika L. Sánchez on Going Mainstream and Not Being Perfect". Chicago Magazine. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
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