Elizabeth Acevedo

ELIZABETH ACEVEDO is a New York Times bestselling author of The Poet X, With the Fire on High, and Clap When You Land. Her critically-acclaimed debut novel, The Poet X, won the 2018 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. She is also the recipient of the Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Fiction, the CILIP Carnegie Medal, and the Boston Globe-Hornbook Award. Additionally, she was honored with the 2019 Pure Belpré Author Award for celebrating, affirming, and portraying Latinx culture and experience. Her books include, Beastgirl & Other Origin Myths (YesYes 2016), The Poet X (HarperCollins, 2018), & With The Fire On High (HarperCollins, 2019). She holds a BA in Performing Arts from The George Washington University and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Maryland. Acevedo has been a fellow of Cave Canem, Cantomundo, and a participant in the Callaloo Writer’s Workshops. She is a National Poetry Slam Champion, and resides in Washington, DC with her love. Source

Hearing That Joe Arroyo Song at Ibiza Nightclub, 2008

A boy I did not marry taught me to dance salsa on 2 placed

the fingers of his left hand on my untutored spine; you know what

it’s like to become someone’s clave

to love for the span of the trombone’s long breath he whispered

negra so I spun my heart landing on the rum-covered linoleum

of a nightclub

on what used to be New York Ave in what used to be Chocolate City

I let him turn & spin my name bella negra

his hands were less tender but still I let them roam

when I 1, 2, 3 5, 6, 7 in front of my mirror

I was always la negra defended in the lyric and you can forgive

searching hands when a mouth swells the biggest ache of your body

into song

Published:

2018

Length:

Regular

Literary Movements:

Contemporary

Anthology Years:

2023

Themes:

Love & Relationships

Memory & The Past

Music & Sports

Pop Culture