<
p class=”p1″>The National Poetry Series chose Cornell alumnus author Benjamin Garcia ’11 as one of five winners in a prestigious competition that grants awardees a chance at publication. His book Thrown in the Throat was chosen by poet Kazim Ali, and will be published next fall.
The books were chosen through an open competition featuring more than 1,000 poets. The winners, announced this week, receive a $10,000 cash prize and are connected to participating publishers that fund the printing of their full-length manuscripts. The competition aims to promote poetry and heighten the involvement of publishers and booksellers.
Garcia received his B.A. in English and Spanish from the University of New Mexico and his MFA from Cornell University in 2011. He has emerged as a prominent poet ever since, accumulating numerous literary awards and scholarships.
As a 2017 Latin@ Scholar, Garcia said: “If after my MFA I questioned whether poetry mattered, 2017 answered—art is a human right. Thank you to the queer and Latinx writers whose hard work has made it easier for me to pursue that right. I hope that someday my work can do this for others.”
Garcia was awarded the 2018 CantoMundo Fellow at the Palm Beach Poetry Festival as well. His work has also appeared in distinguished journals such as the New England Review and the American Poetry Review, among many others.