Description

In 2013, Blanco was chosen to serve as the fifth inaugural poet of the United States, becoming the youngest, first Latino, immigrant and openly gay writer to hold the honor.

His poems have appeared in countless literary journals and anthologies, including Best American Prose Poems and Ploughshares. Blanco has received numerous honors for his writings and performances, including an honorary doctorate from Macalester College and being named a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow.

He is currently working on a full-length memoir and is collaborating with renowned illustrator Dav Pilkey on a children’s book.

Richard Blanco’s mother, seven months pregnant, and the rest of the family arrived as exiles from Cuba to Madrid where he was born on February 15th, 1968. Forty-five days later, the family emigrated once more to New York City.

Only a few weeks old, Blanco already belonged to three countries, a foreshadowing of the concerns of place and belonging that would shape his life and work. Eventually, the family settled in Miami where he was raised and educated.

Growing up among close-knit Cuban exiles instilled in him a strong sense of community, dignity, and identity that he’d carry into his adult life as a writer.