Ethan Risso

You guyyyys!

Dominican-American author (and slam poet! ❤) Elizabeth Acevedo just took home the prestigious children’s literature award for her incredible novel, The Poet X.

A novel written in verse, it tells of a quiet Dominican girl, Xiomara, who joins her school’s slam poetry club in Harlem and is, according to the judges, “a searing, unflinching exploration of culture, family, and faith within a truly innovative verse structure”. Xiomara “comes to life on every page and shows the reader how girls and women can learn to inhabit, and love, their own skin.” 

Acevedo’s win comes two years after the prize instigated an independent review into its historical lack of racial diversity, following widespread anger at 2017’s 20-book, entirely white longlist.