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WORK TITLE: The Poet X
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 15-Feb
WEBSITE: http://www.acevedopoetry.com/
CITY: Washington
STATE: DC
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born February 15, New York, NY; daughter of Dominican immigrants; married.
EDUCATION:George Washington University, B.A.; University of Maryland, M.F.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, novelist, poet, performer, public speaker. Formerly taught eighth grade in Maryland. Featured performer on Black Entertainment Television (B.E.T.) and TV One’s Verses and Flow; delivered several TED Talks.
AWARDS:Cave Canem Fellow; CantoMundo Fellow.
WRITINGS
Contributor of poetry to periodicals, including Poetry, Puerto Del Sol, Callaloo, and the Notre Dame Review.
SIDELIGHTS
Elizabeth Acevedo is the youngest child and only daughter of Dominican immigrants. She received her undergraduate degree in the performing arts and master’s degree in writing. Acevedo is a writer, poet, fiction writer, and performer who has traveled on tour around the world and throughout the United States, including renowned venues such as Lincoln Center, Madison Square Garden, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, South Africa’s State Theatre, the Bozar, or Centre for Fine Arts, in Brussels, and the National Library of Kosovo. She is noted for her slam poetry performances and is a National Slam Champion. Acevedo represented Washington, DC, in the 2016 Women of the World Poetry Slam contest, placing eighth.
Acevedo credits her interest in poetry and fiction writing to members of her family, whom Acevedo says are great storytellers. “When I was twelve, I really started using hip-hop as a medium to talk about my neighborhood, to talk about the things that were happening in current events that I was reading about,” Acevedo noted in an interview with Olga Segura for American Online. Acevedo is the author of the poetry chapbook Beastgirl & Other Origin Myths and has contributed poetry to periodicals. Her book of poems slated for publication and titled Medusa Reads La Negra’s Palm won the 2016 Berkshire Prize.
In her debut novel, The Poet X, Acevedo tells the story of Xiomara, a high-school girl who writes poetry. The idea for the novel came from Acevedo’s time working as an eighth-grade schoolteacher. Her predominantly Latino students questioned why the books they were assigned to read contained no one who looked like them. “I went out and tried to find these books at first, but then realized that there just still aren’t enough,” Acevedo told American Online contributor Segura. Acevedo decided she would write a novel featuring an Afro-Latina protagoinst. A Kirkus Reviews contributor noted the novel’s themes included “growing up first-generation American, Latinx culture, sizeism, music, burgeoning sexuality, and the power of the written and spoken word.”
The Poet X is a novel in verse. Acevedo wrote the first two drafts in prose before turning to verse to tell the story. Explaining why she finally turned to verse, Acevedo told Vibe Online contributor Marjua Estevez: “I think because the character’s a poet, but also because this character has this toughness. How she displays herself in the world is fierce and bold and hard, but then on the inside she has all this flowery language and these insights and this ability to see in such a manner where she sees in images.”
In the novel, Xiomara Batista has dreams of becoming a slam poet. Her dream puts Xiomara at odds with her mother, Marni, especially since Xiomara has begun to express her waning Catholic faith. Xiomara, whose name means “one who is ready for war,” is especially unwilling to follow a patriarchal system of piety. A Dominican teenager from Harlem, Xiomara does not slink away from boys’ catcalls but confronts the boys with an intimidating fury. Meanwhile, her twin brother is considered a genius, leading Xiomara to both resent and adore him.
Xiomara keeps a poetry journal and joins a spoken-word poetry class. Meanwhile, she has begun a romance with her science partner in school, Aman. However, because of Marni’s devoutness and instructions for Xiomara to avoid boys and especially not to get pregnant, the two must keep their relationship a secret. Eventually, Marni discovers Xiomara’s journal, leading to a clash between mother and daughter. Xiomara’s poetry journal gets close to being destroyed by her mother, leading Xiomara to get so upset that she decides to make her poetry public and begins competing in poetry slams.
The “free verse gives Xiomara’s coming-of-age story an undeniable pull, its emotionally charged bluntness reflecting her determination and strength,” wrote a Publishers Weekly contributor. Della Farrell, writing in School Library Journal, commented: “Magnificently crafted, Acevedo’s bildungsroman in verse is a stunning account of a teen girl’s path to poetry.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, November 1, 2017, Jessica Anne Bratt, review of The Poet X, p. 66.
Christian Science Monitor, March 23, 2018, Katie Ward Beim-Esche, “YA novel The Poet X Is an Elegiac Meditation on Poesy and Religion.”
Horn Book, March-April, 2018, Jennifer Hubert Swan, review of The Poet X, p. 76.
Kirkus Reviews, January 15, 2018, review of The Poet X.
Publishers Weekly, January 22, 2018, review of The Poet X, p. 86.
School Library Journal, March, 2018, Della Farrell, review of The Poet X, p. 111.
Voice of Youth Advocates, February, 2018, Pamela Thompson, review of The Poet X, p. 52.
ONLINE
American Online, https://www.americamagazine.org/ (January 25, 2018), Olga Segura, “Dominican Slam Poet Elizabeth Acevedo on Sex, Identity and Catholicism.
Brooklyn Book Festival Website, http://www.brooklynbookfestival.org/ (July 6, 2018), brief author profile.
Bustle, https://www.bustle.com/ (January 25, 2018), Kerri Jarema, “The Poet X Author Elizabeth Acevedo Explains Why She Wrote a Book About an Afro-Latina Teen Poet.”
Demitasse Journal, https://demitassejrnl.wordpress.com/ (December 14, 2016), Tamaria Del Rio, review of Beastgirl & Other Origin Myths.
Elizabeth Acevedo Website, http://www.acevedopoetry.com (July 6, 2018).
Elle Online, https://www.elle.com/ (March 7, 2018), Madison Feller, “Elizabeth Acevedo and Sarah Kay on Their New Books, Latinx Representation, and Why Poetry Is Political.”
Hyype, https://hyypeonline.com/ (September 4, 2017), review of Beastgirl & Other Origin Myths.
Neon Entertainment, https://www.neon-entertainment.com/ (July 6, 2018), brief author profile.
Vibe Online, https://www.vibe.com/ (March 15, 2018), Marjua Esteves, “Dominican Author Elizabeth Acevedo’s The Poet X an Ode to Black Latinas: Interview.”
Elizabeth Acevedo holds a BA in Performing Arts from The George Washington University and a MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Maryland. She is a National Poetry Slam Champion as well as a Cave Canem Fellow, CantoMundo Fellow, and participant of the Callaloo Writer's Workshop. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in the Notre Dame Review, Callaloo, Puerto Del Sol, Poet Lore, and Beltway Quarterly. Her manuscript, BEASTGIRLS & OTHER ORIGIN MYTHS, was a finalist for the YesYes Books Vinyl 45 Contest and released in October 2016, and her full-length collection, Medusa Reads La Negra's Palm, was the winner of the 2016 Berkshire Prize and will be published by Tupelo Press. She lives in Washington, DC.
Elizabeth Acevedo is a National Slam Champion and her poems have been published or are forthcoming in Puerto Del Sol, Callaloo, Poet Lore, The Notre Dame Review, and others. Acevedo is a Cave Canem Fellow, Cantomundo Fellow, and participant of the Callaloo Writer’s Workshop. She is the author of two poetry collections: Beastgirl & Other Origin Myths and winner of the of the 2016 Berkshire Prize, Medusa Reads La Negra’s Palm, and her debut novel, The Poet X will be published in 2018.
Author Website
http://www.acevedowrites.com
Dominican slam poet Elizabeth Acevedo on sex, identity and Catholicism
Olga Segura
January 25, 2018
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Elizabeth Acevedo (Image via Project Voice)
“Our bodies have been bridges,” proclaimed the Dominican-American poet Elizabeth Acevedo. “We are the sons and daughters, el destino de mi gente, black, brown, beautiful, viviremos para siempre, Afro-Latino hasta la muerte.”
Ms. Acevedo was performing at the Word Up Community Bookstore in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City in October 2016. Her collection of poetry, Beastgirl & Other Origin Myths, had just been published. Surrounded by books and an audience of about 30 people, she performed her spoken word, seamlessly switching between English and Spanish.
Beastgirl is centered on the experiences of first-generation American women. Written over several years, it is what Ms. Acevedo describes as “contemplations on Caribbean womanhood,” exploring themes like Dominican folklore (such as the mythological Ciguapa), family, the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo and sexuality. Born in New York City to Dominican immigrants, the poet writes about experiences that often mirror her own.
Beastgirl is what Ms. Acevedo describes as “contemplations on Caribbean womanhood,” exploring themes like Dominican folklore and sexuality.
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Ms. Acevedo describes learning as early as the first grade about the tensions that exist in the ways Latinos identify in the United States. “You feel so Dominican at home, and you don’t ever question that,” she told me when we spoke last fall. “Then you go to school and you start realizing that there are certain values, certain ideas that you have that people may not share with you, and you start seeing these values, ideas fall across cultural lines.”
Coming from a family of storytellers, Ms. Acevedo has always seen poetry and writing as a means to talk about the world she knows.
“When I was 12, I really started using hip-hop as a medium to talk about my neighborhood, to talk about the things that were happening in current events that I was reading about,” she said.
Slam poetry, the style of poetry Ms. Acevedo is known for, is a genre in which poets recite original poetry, combining elements of theater, storytelling and other kinds of performance. Like hip-hop artists, slam poets focus on issues like racism, sex, poverty and identity. Ms. Acevedo’s influences growing up ranged from Latina writers like Sandra Cisneros and Julia Alvarez to rappers like Eve, Foxy Brown and Jay-Z. “I remember my first official rap verse I wrote when I was 12 years old,” she told me. “I started realizing that not only could I write about it, recite it, but now there was a conversation being opened because of my ability to turn what I thought into art.”
Some of the poet’s most popular spoken-word performances include “Hair,” on the complicated relationship Dominican women have with their hair; “Bittersweet Love Poem,” an ode to her partner; and “Beloved or If You Are Murdered Tomorrow,” on the murder of black men by police officers.
The Poet X
Less than two years after the publication of Beastgirl, Ms. Acevedo will be releasing her debut novel, The Poet X, this March. The seed for the book was planted while Ms. Acevedo was an eighth-grade teacher in Maryland, where her students, who were predominantly Latino, would ask why none of the characters in the books they were required to read looked like them.
“I went out and tried to find these books at first, but then realized that there just still aren’t enough,” she said.
She decided to write the story of Xiomara Batista, an Afro-Latina teenager growing up in Harlem, who is struggling between her own desires—wanting to be a slam poet—and those of her mother, who wants her to follow the teachings of the Catholic Church.
Ms. Acevedo grew up in a devout Catholic household. “I went to church every Sunday with my mom. And I have had every sacrament up to confirmation. And I think my relationship is still developing with religion,” she told me. “I don’t know that I would call myself necessarily Catholic anymore. I think I have a relationship with God, and I’m still exploring what that looks like.”
In The Poet X, Ms. Acevedo captures the complicated relationship many Dominicans have with Catholicism, particularly focusing on the ways in which faith can affect women.
“There is a lot that is taught through the church that can be empowering, and also a lot that can really make someone, especially girls, question themselves,” she said. “It was important for me to have Xiomara realize that her voice can push against the varying structures that are trying to tell her that she has to be one kind of girl.”
Slam poetry, the style of poetry Ms. Acevedo is known for, is a genre in which poets recite original poetry, combining elements of theater, storytelling and other kinds of performance.
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We see this dynamic within Xiomara, who hides her relationship with her classmate, Aman, from her family, while still questioning what she has been taught about temptation. In one of the chapters of the novel, “Wants,” Ms. Acevedo describes the attraction Xiomara is beginning to feel for him, writing, “As much as boys and men/ have told me all of the things/ they would like to do to my body,/ this is the first time I’ve actually wanted/ some of those things done.” Ms. Acevedo wants Xiomara to be a character who challenges how society, especially Latino culture, talks about sex.
In light of the conversations sparked by the #MeToo movement, the theme of sexuality in The Poet X feels especially timely. “I think young people are taught to be afraid of their bodies,” Ms. Acevedo told me. She believes that for a culture that glorifies sex, we do not know how to teach young people about it.
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“Sex is contaminated, to have desire is contaminated, to feel pleasure is contaminated, but then we’re also such a sexualized culture,” she said. “So on one hand, women are to be looked at and admired and talked about, but women themselves cannot admire themselves or talk about themselves or feel what they make other people feel. And it’s this notion that I just really wanted to tease out of, what does it mean to reject that? What does it mean to grapple with not wanting to be harassed, but also knowing that if you feel desire, that is O.K.?”
Like other Dominican writers such as Ms. Alvarez and Junot Díaz, Ms. Acevedo presents perspectives not often represented in literature that refute many of the stereotypes associated with Dominican-Americans. Telling these authentic Latino stories is paramount, Ms. Acevedo believes. “I believe in storytelling,” she said. “If we sit with what hurts us by ourselves, we think we are alone in our pain. It’s important to tell these stories, to hear these stories, to see these stories as a realization that we’re not alone.”
Dominican Author Elizabeth Acevedo’s ‘The Poet X’ An Ode To Black Latinas: Interview
Features Marjua Estevez @_MsEstevez | March 15, 2018 - 2:05 pm
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CREDIT: Elizabeth Acevedo
Girls who never saw ourselves on bookshelves, but were still writing poems when we talked. And we’ve been called teeth-sucking, of snapping eyes, born bitter, brittle, of tangled tongues, sandpaper that’s been origami’d into girls not worthy of being your hero, nor the author. But we were always Medusa’s favorite daughter…
These are the opening words of poet and author Elizabeth Acevedo on the night she introduces her debut novel to her native Uptown, New York City neighborhood. A brilliant Dominican girl’s coming-of-age, The Poet X stands as an ode to “Afro-Latinas, negritas and morenitas” worldwide.
Holding court inside Alianza Dominicana Cultural Center, Acevedo is Medusa. In her own serpent curls and tangled tongue, she summons the muses and us round-the-way shorties for a soul-shaking, finger-snapping spectacle of spoken word worthy of all the collective yaaas! and whaaaaa! orchestrating the room.
On this wintry March evening, before she takes the stage, Acevedo – who currently lives in Washington, DC with her husband – nestles in a secluded corner as she waits to engage a brief interview. Like her book, her presence is familiar. And I want to know how she’s arrived here.
VIBE: What parts of the book are biographical?
Liz: A lot of the emotional truths. Being a young woman who had to walk through a city where I was continuously sexualized and objectified, and had to feel fear of my body while also encountering my sexuality, trying to figure out how to do I express this but also protect it. Having tension within a family dynamic where you’re first generation and you are trying to consolidate what you’re learning in this country are your rights and who you can be and should be. And then what your parents are trying to hold on to that are very traditional… How do you as one human carry all of these different values, and also figure out what are your own? Those are all true. That said, there might be some poems I used from when I was a teen. [Laughs]
Besides that you’re a poet and spoken word artist, is there a reason why you chose to write your novel in verse rather than prose?
This is actually my third manuscript, and my first two were in prose. I think because the character’s a poet, but also because this character has this toughness. How she displays herself in the world is fierce and bold and hard, but then on the inside she has all this flowery language and these insights and this ability to see in such a manner where she sees in images. And I love that contrast of this girl who walks through the world with her fists clenched, but is also super thoughtful — but you don’t know it. No one knows it, because she doesn’t show that part of herself.
Who did you write this for?
I was a teacher, and I taught a predominantly Latinx school. I wrote it for my students, after they asked me to write a book for them. I wrote this for my younger self and young women who reflect my younger self. I wrote this for Afro-Latinas, negritas and morenitas who are like, “I don’t see myself on TV, in the magazines, I most definitely do not see myself in books.” And I wrote this for just young women who are trying to take up space and are repeatedly made small because they are told they have to be small.
How have your students reacted to the book?
One of my performance students will be opening up today. So I’ve had students open up for me everywhere, because part of creating space is also saying, “If I have a room, I want you to also be in the room speaking up.” So every single show on my tour has a youth poet opening up, which I felt really strongly about.
They’re just proud, to be real. There is so much that we imagine that can be done with language. You come into poetry and you think, “Okay, this is what a poet can do, this is what a teacher can do.” But then when you’re like, “Wait, we could write books, we could write novels, we can get book deals, we can be on TV?” I think for a lot of folks it’s the possibilities of it all. It’s like that for me, too. I’ve had all kinds of partnerships come through that even my publisher is like, “We’ve never had a writer with announcements.” Like word, and I just have to play that off. [Laughs] I really just think it’s about being able to reimagine the things that are actually possible.
What does it feel like coming back home, presenting this gift, this kind of joy to your ‘hood?
There’s a lot of pressure.
How so?
Because you want to get it right, and this is the community that would be able to check me if I didn’t get it right. So there’s the pressure of God, I hope this sounds like them, I hope this feels like them, I hope this is familiar. [But] my best shows are always in New York; people get in a way that I don’t have to explain. And I’ve toured the country, I’m continuously meeting a lot of people. But in New York, I don’t have to give disclaimers.
ELIZABETH ACEVEDO’s poetry is infused with her Dominican parents’ bolero and her beloved city’s tough grit. She holds a BA in Performing Arts from The George Washington University and a MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Maryland. With over twelve years of performance experience, Acevedo has been a featured performer on BET and Mun2, as well as delivered several TED Talks and is well known for her poetry videos which have gone viral and been picked up by PBS, Latina Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Huffington Post and Upworthy. Acevedo is a National Poetry Slam Champion and her poetry manuscript, & Other Origin Myths, was published in September 2016 and she her young adult novel forthcoming.
Elizabeth Acevedo
Internationally Recognized Performer and Writer, National Poetry Slam Champion, New York Times Bestselling Author, Performer and Educator
SPEAKING TOPICS
Thriving with “Imposter Syndrome”
“La Nina de La Casa” Reconstructing Cultural Gender Roles
Writing Towards Obsolescence
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Elizabeth Acevedo is the youngest child and only daughter of Dominican immigrants. She holds a BA in Performing Arts from the George Washington University and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Maryland. With over fourteen years of performance experience, Acevedo has toured her poetry nationally and internationally. She has
Elizabeth Acevedo and Sarah Kay on Their New Books, Latinx Representation, and Why Poetry Is Political
By Madison Feller
Mar 7, 2018
Elizabeth Acevedo and Sarah Kay have a lot in common. For one, they both grew up in New York City. They’re both spoken word poets and educators. And you might’ve seen videos of them performing and giving TED Talks scattered around YouTube. But back when Acevedo and Kay were just teenagers, they shared something else: they both participated in the NYC teen poetry scene, which culminated in an annual poetry slam. And, according to Kay, this is where Acevedo kicked her butt.
“That’s how we met!” Kay says, remembering it was either 2003 or 2004 when the two first crossed paths. “We lost touch and were in our own separate worlds for a while. Then we were both doing similar work. We were both teaching and mentoring other young poets. I run an organization called Project VOICE, and we look for poet educators to come into schools. I had been fortunate enough to see Liz again, and I was like, oh, you would be perfect. Then we started working together.”
Sarah Kay and Elizabeth Acevedo
Courtesy of Sarah Kay
Now, years since they first met, Acevedo and Kay both have books coming out: Acevedo with her debut novel, The Poet X, a book written in verse that follows a teenage Dominican-American poet in New York City, and Kay with All Our Wild Wonder, an illustrated poem that celebrates educators.
ELLE.com brought Kay and Acevedo together for a conversation about why poetry isn't a riddle, why poets are journalists, and what it means to be seen in the world.
Kay: Have you known forever that you needed to write a book about a young poet growing up in New York City?
Acevedo: I had a mentor reach out to me and say, I have this agent who is really interested in poetry and I think she’d be a great fit, do you have any projects? This was when I was teaching eighth grade, and I didn’t have any projects, but I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to potentially show something to someone. Something I was really interested in is poetry club, and I ran a poetry club at my school, so I had a kernel of an idea and wrote 30 pages. But I couldn't figure out how to tell the story.
The first manuscript I actually finished was a fantasy novel about a young witch in the Dominican Republic, and then I wrote a manuscript about a teen mom in Philadelphia and neither one of them sat right. Then I came back to those 30 pages, and it hit me. It was four years later, and I was like, "This. This story." There’s something here I need to explore and get out.
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Kay: I want to talk about the dedication: “To the little sisters yearning to see themselves, this is for you.” When I read this book, I burst into tears, and I'm not an Afro-Dominican teenager in Harlem, and yet there was something about Xiomara, the main character, that felt so true to what my teenage self was. I recognized how important it was going to be for the Dominican teenage girl poet who gets to read this and see themselves for the first time. What does it mean to write something that allows other people to see themselves?
Acevedo: There’s a Junot Díaz quote I return to often and it says, "If you want to make a human being into a monster, deny them, at any cultural level, any reflection of themselves." I think, in many ways, a lot of us feel unseen. A lot of young women of color in this country, particularly of Black descent and Latinx descent, we grow up in places where we don’t see ourselves in books, we don’t see ourselves on TV, we don’t see ourselves in movies—and yet we have hypervisibility in our streets and in how we’re seen by the male gaze, by young men, and by our families. It's weird, like, I don’t know if I exist in the actual world, but I'm too present at home and in spaces that could be violent. So I was thinking about having a character who had to grapple with how much she was seen and yet not being able to show her true self. I don’t know a lot of Dominican characters in books.
I think, in many ways, a lot of us feel unseen.
Kay: In this book, friendship and mentorship, especially in the way that it relates to Xiomara's poetry, is so important. Something very powerful in this is when the main character is seen, and who she is seen by and the way she feels seen by mentors. Talk to me about yourself as a young poet—the first time you felt seen and how that affected you as a poet and as an artist.
Acevedo: I remember sitting on my stoop in front of my building, and I had a print-out of one my first poems and I was trying to memorize it. An older woman who lived in the building came out, and she had all these fliers for an arts organization and she was like, “Here, give this to your brother,” who was a teenager. I was sitting there with this poem, looking at this flier, and I told her, "I have a thing." I read her this poem, and she said I could come. That was the first organization I’d ever been a part of where I had an audience and a mentor. But there were a lot of those moments. I remember a lot of those little moments of people bringing me slightly closer to the stage and people seeing in me that I could be brave even before I saw it.
Kay: The book I have coming out in March is one poem, but it is a poem about that exact experience of having a teacher see you and communicate in her actions and words that you are worthy of her time and that you are already the scholar and the artist that you dream of being.
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One thing that resonated with me about the role that poetry plays for Xiomara is that in a lot of ways it’s her escape, but it’s also her processing center. It's her communication outlet and her diary. As an educator that specifically teaches poetry, something I’m always thinking is, “How do we expand what people think poetry is allowed to be and who gets to write poetry and what they get to write about?” For so many people, poetry is given to them as a riddle they have to solve, and if they don’t solve it, they think, "I’m too stupid to understand poetry," or "Poetry isn’t for me." You were able to show us the way that poetry serves different roles in this person’s life.
Acevedo: I do believe writing is thinking. Sometimes we can’t untangle what's happening in our brains, but we get our pen moving and all of a sudden, as we write, we figure it out. For this character, that was really true. As she is writing, that is how she begins processing things.
ELLE.com: In your poems, you both write about identity and representation and what those mean to you. Has the current political climate affected your work or the kind of work you want to do?
Acevedo: I think as poets, there’s always something that you can look at and say, "That should be better. That could be more representative. That is a social injustice." The poet is the journalist. The poet is the historian. The poet is also the observer who's looking and saying, "We need to talk about this," and who's also saying: We need joy, and we need stories that remind us we’re human, and we deserve Black Panther, and we deserve things that represent us that aren’t always about the struggle. Writing this was in direct response to wanting more representation for my community, which automatically meant more representation for women, more representation for people of color, more representation for immigrants, more representation for queer folks.
Kay: I am of the belief that every poem is political, and I’m of the belief that you can engage with politics in many, many ways through art. It suddenly feels more inherently political to be a young woman of color that stands up in front of rooms of young people and says, "It is possible to be an artist and a poet. It is possible to speak about where you come from and use the language that is authentic to you and your family and your history. There is room for you here." Perhaps to outside eyes that wouldn't necessarily be seen as explicitly political, but it suddenly feels abundantly political to me.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
The Poet X is out now. All Our Wild Wonder comes out March 13.
'The Poet X' Author Elizabeth Acevedo Explains Why She Wrote A Book About An Afro-Latina Teen Poet
ByKerri Jarema
Jan 25 2018
Elizabeth Acevedo's The Poet X has been one of the most anticipated YA novels of 2018, ever since its powerful cover hit the internet last year. The cover, which depicts an Afro-Latina girl surrounded by words, perfectly illustrates the journey of Acevedo's heroine, Xiomara Batista. Below, Bustle is thrilled to reveal an Epic Reads video, which gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of The Poet X.
The Poet X follows Xiomara, a young girl in Harlem who is struggling with her body image, her mother's religion, her evolving relationship with her twin brother, and her first experience with young love. Desperate for an outlet for all of these experiences and emotions, she begins to pour all of herself into the pages of a leather notebook, penning emotional poems and verses. But Xiomara understands that these thoughts are best kept to herself, especially since her mother is determined to force her to obey the laws of the church,. Will a slam poetry club at her school change everything? All Xiomara knows is that she can no longer be silent.
"The Poet X has a long story. I technically began writing it in 2012, when I was an 8th grade English teacher in Maryland," Acevedo says in the video. "My students were 90% Latino. And I realized that all these stories I had been telling in class and these poems I had been writing didn't necessarily end up on their bookshelves."
To hear more from Acevedo about the inspiration behind the book, her journey to becoming a novelist, and to see her perform some of her own powerful poetry, check out the video below.
Epic Reads on YouTube
Acevedo began writing The Poet X in response to her students' desire to see themselves in more published works, and although she put it aside to focus on other manuscripts, she finally completed it in 2016 when she decided the story she really needed to tell was about "finding your own voice." And that's certainly what Xiomara does through Acevedo's powerful novel-in-verse.
"We write to remind ourselves that we are still here," Acevedo says in the video. "And that we can still heal." I can't think of a more perfect tagline for The Poet X than that.
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo, $18, Amazon (Pre-order)
If you don't already have The Poet X on your 2018 TBR, now is definitely the time to add it to the stack. Though you still have a little while to wait until the book hits shelves on Mar. 6, it's available for pre-order right now.
Q & A with Elizabeth Acevedo
By Sara Grochowski | Mar 06, 2018
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Slam poet and educator Elizabeth Acevedo arrives on the YA scene with her debut novel in verse. Acevedo pulls from her experience working with teens and her own high school journals to tell the story of Xiomara Batista, twin and daughter of Dominican immigrants, as she finds her voice amid overwhelming expectations set by her religious mother and by society. Acevedo spoke with PW about writing a narrative arc across a series of poems, tapping into the unique experience of adolescence, and how her own teen years inspired Xiomara’s story.
What motivated you to write for the young adult audience?
I was an eighth grade English teacher for several years in Prince George’s County, Maryland. There was this realization that I write a lot of poems that exist on YouTube and exist when I’m there in person, but very little that young people could take with them. Right? That what I was creating wasn’t tangible in that way. That was the kernel, wanting to give something to my students that they could carry.
Are you interested in writing fiction or verse for other audiences?
I think I have a couple projects up my sleeve. I’ve been working on a poetry manuscript for a long time, a full-length [one]. What I have now is a chapbook, which is not quite as long. I have a fiction project for adults that I’ve been toying with for years, so we’ll see if I can pull that off anytime soon.
Does your writing process differ depending on your audience and whether you are writing verse or prose?
It depends whether I am writing poetry or fiction. My second book is prose but also young adult. It feels similar to The Poet X. I have to sit every day, hang out with the characters, and get my word count. Poetry is different in that I will have an idea, experience, or emotional truth that I’m trying to get across. I can putter a bit and play with the language. Fiction manuscripts have to be done with focus. With poetry I’m more patient, I’m working, figuring things out, even if I’m not actively writing.
A large part of Xiomara’s story focuses on her conflicted feelings about her physical presence, sexuality, and religious faith. From where did her story begin?
The first poem I wrote for this novel was the one about ants, which I think is one of the most climactic points in the story. It was about this conflict with [Xiomara’s mother] and religion and what it means to want to make yourself so small that you could fit between the floorboards. This is a story about taking up space and being a young woman who takes up space with both her body and her voice. The weight of the story is in that moment.
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Are aspects of Xiomara or her story inspired by your own teen years or your experience as the child of Dominican immigrants?
[Laughs]
If my mother were asking, we’re gonna say no. But, yeah, being a young woman who was a poet informed how much I know about slam poetry and those initial moments on stage. There are a lot of the cultural things that inspired aspects of Xiomara, like the ways in which who you are outside of your house is a little bit different than who you must be inside because of the cultural norms that exist. That push and pull that Xiomara carries of being first-generation is something I share. Our family structure and how our parents behaved are different, though. I may have also lifted a poem or two from my high school journal. I plagiarized myself, but it was a good way to keep me grounded.
How did having access to your high school journal impact your writing or perspective?
The journal reminded me of how teens talk and communicate, and [was] a reminder to be authentic. To remember how emotional things felt at that time. And that it was okay to allow that, particularly as someone who has gone to so many poetry programs. We are taught to pull back on sentiment and sentimentality, to strip a lot of that out and let the reader do the work. Going back to my journals, I was able to calibrate and remember that how a teen writes isn’t the same.
Do you still work with young writers and teens regularly?
I do a lot of poetry workshops. I do 40–50 shows a year, mostly at colleges and universities, but also at high schools. I’m a visiting instructor at an adjudicated youth center in D.C., so I do workshops with young women who are incarcerated. I have the privilege of being around many young people who are finding their voice. I also attend a lot of slams as a host or judge and I used to be a coach as well.
The way I think about my teen years is very particular to where I am now. But being around teenagers all the time makes me aware of the emotional scale that they’re on and how they’re responding to things. If nothing else, it’s a reminder of how brilliant they are. Some adults write down to young people, but, if you listen to them, they’ll tell you what they need. Oftentimes, I think they’re more able to handle difficult subjects than we give them credit for.
Xiomara plays the role of protector for her twin brother; can you expand on your decision to give Xiomara a fraternal twin, rather than a younger sibling or a sister?
I wanted a character who was going to be a foil to Xiomara. Both siblings are trying to reach this idea of perfection. For me, the fact that their parents are significantly older meant a lot; there’s a huge generational gap and the twins are considered miracles. If it were just Xiomara alone, she wouldn’t have anyone to bounce off, but she and her brother are two seeds that bore fruit. Their mother just can’t let go and that pressure affects them in different ways. Xiomara’s mother has certain expectations for her because she is a girl. And having a mirror who is the same age and has been raised in the same household was a perfect way to show the gender and personality differences at play.
When working on The Poet X, did you read your writing aloud to gauge flow and word choice?
I did, which was difficult when I was revising because it’s a lot of pages to read. But I read every revision out loud to get a sense of the music, the language, and the rhythm, how things were bumping against each other. On the page, I think you can get caught up in the line breaks and how things look—the aesthetic—but if you’re not hearing it, you’re losing so much. Even when I was recording the audiobook I was noticing things my eye couldn’t catch that needed to be changed.
How did your background in spoken word poetry prepare you to record the audio version of The Poet X?
I think I have a sense of how things need to sound, how to pull an audience in with tone, timing, and pacing. That affects a lot of my writing, too, being hyper aware of how an audience might read something. I want what’s happening on the page to mimic what my body would do on stage. A lot of that came out in the audiobook. I think I would have struggled to record the audiobook without having stage experience because it’s a lot of work to maintain that kind of performance voice.
Was writing a narrative arc across a series of poems difficult?
It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done! I started this novel in 2012 and I couldn’t figure out how to do it. I’m an avid reader of all kinds of things and was a teacher at the time, so I was reading every verse novel and poetry books with extended character arcs. But when you’re doing it yourself it’s so hard to figure out how much interiority is enough, how much should this character show up, what does dialogue look like between multiple characters? It was hard to figure out what it should look like. I would complain to my husband that I couldn’t see it. I can’t hold the whole story in my head because it’s so many pieces. I had to write two other novels before I could come back and finish this one. I had to process other things and have a sense of arc and plot to impose onto this story.
Can you share any details about your next young adult project?
I’m not sure how much I’m able to share. It’s called With the Fire on High and it will be out around this time in 2019. It’s about a teen chef and mother in Philadelphia during her senior year in high school. She’s trying to figure out how what it means when all her classmates are being told to follow their dreams, but, for her, it’s a little bit different because she has someone depending on her. She can’t make the wrong choice of what to do with her life.
How does your background as an ELA teacher, speaker, and performer impact your writing process and the way you approach storytelling?
I’m aware of how young people are going to read. I’m also aware of the many ways you can enter a story; I try to be cognizant of not writing the same kind of story in the same kind of way. For example, having Xiomara’s draft assignments be in poetry in her journal, then being too afraid to show that in her final draft. As a teacher, having a sense of what a rough draft looks like and how much is sometimes not revealed impacted those sections of The Poet X.
I do q&as after every show. What people ask me during these q&as shows me a lot about what folks are processing that they don’t always know how to find answers for. That’s kind of an interesting thing to keep track of: what is it that people are trying to talk about that they ask me specifically? What is it that I can offer in a story that might answer some of those questions?
Which writers or performers do you feel have had the most impact on your journey to finding your writing style or voice?
It’s different depending on what I’m writing, though it crosses a little bit. I’m a big fan of Lucille Clifton and how sparingly she wrote. She had such short lines, she didn’t overuse words, and was super powerful. I love Natalie Diaz and how much she reveals, but also that she is more interested in what the poem is asking, rather than what it is solving. I think allowing that kind of soft closure is something to adopt and think about. Jason Reynolds’s work was big when I was working through The Poet X. I’m lucky that he and I lived in D.C. at the same time and I was able to chat with him and get to know him. When his first book came out it was one of my first indications that I could actually do this, that I could tell this kind of story. Jacqueline Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming had a lot of impact on this story. Junot Díaz was the first writer to really give me permission to create a fully Dominican character and bring all our languages and vernaculars onto the page, to not be apologetic and to see it as an asset.
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo. HarperTeen, $17.99 Mar. ISBN 978-0-06-266280-4
Yo. Welcome. I’m hype you’re here.
I’m ELIZABETH ACEVEDO.
I hail from New York City and I’m the youngest child and only daughter of Dominican immigrants (Wepa!). I’ve gotten all kinds of schooling: from learning the essential elements of writing and performing at the little park on my block, to receiving a BA in Performing Arts from The George Washington University and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Maryland. I’ve been a part of corner cyphers, and fancy workshops and I don’t put those credits here to big myself up, but just to pay respect to the academic and non-academic settings that inform my work; that forced me to find my voice and taught me to take up space.
I been writing and performing for a long-ass time; been on television, given TEDTalks, traveled all over the world and all over the country on tour. I write both poetry and fiction and it’s not a stretch to say, I love language. I commit wholeheartedly to the mission that my mother’s stories will not die with her. I believe wholeheartedly telling my own story is an act of love and survival.
On some real tip, reading and writing changed the course of my life and because of both, I now understand myself better. This is not my official bio (although you can find that below, if you’d like). This is my personal invitation for you to explore my website, to interact with my work, to find joy here and to be boldly moved to let your own joy loose upon the world.
official bio
ELIZABETH ACEVEDO was born and raised in New York City and her poetry is infused with Dominican bolero and her beloved city’s tough grit.
She holds a BA in Performing Arts from The George Washington University and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Maryland. With over fifteen years of performance experience, Acevedo has been a featured performer on B.E.T, TV One’s Verses and Flow and has also delivered several TED Talks. She has graced stages nationally and internationally including renowned venues such as The Lincoln Center, Madison Square Garden, the Kennedy Center of the Performing Arts, South Africa’s State Theatre, The Bozar in Brussels, and the National Library of Kosovo.
Acevedo is a National Slam Champion, Beltway Grand Slam Champion, and the 2016 Women of the World Poetry Slam representative for Washington, D.C, where she placed 8th in the world.
Her poems have been published or are forthcoming in Poetry, Puerto Del Sol, Callaloo, The Notre Dame Review, and others. Acevedo is a Cave Canem Fellow, Cantomundo Fellow, and participant of the Callaloo Writer’s Workshop. She is the author of the chapbook, Beastgirl & Other Origin Myths (YesYes Books, 2016) and the New York Times bestselling novel, The Poet X (HarperCollins, 2018).
How did you get into poetry?
This is a question with many origin stories. I come from storytellers. My father has a million jokes in his pockets—they are not dad jokes. My mother has been recounting her childhood and her adventures for me since I was a tiny thing in her arms. My grandfather had a third grade education, but was one of the sharpest orators and could string you a riddle so well you were in awe by the end of it. I loved to read growing up. And would come up with ideas for stories or songs. I wanted to sing, but didn’t have a great voice so I turned to hip-hop. I wanted to rap and then discovered poetry slams. I wanted to slam and then discovered publishing. I wanted to write poems and then began believing I could write fiction. And so I tell the narrative of my people as best I can with all the gifts that have been given to me.
Do you have any books?
Yes! My chapbook Beastgirl & Other Origin Myths was published by YesYesBooks in September 2016 and my debut young adult novel, The Poet X (HarperCollins) was released March 6, 2018.
Can I book you to appear at my college/university?
Yes! Fill out the form on my Contact page!
Can I book you to present at my K-12 school? Can you talk about your Young Adult Novel?
Yes! I was a middle school ELA teacher for several years, I write young adult fiction, and I love discussing the writing process and literature with young people. For more information on how to make this happen, please fill out the form at the Contact page.
I’m not part of a school, how can I book you to speak?
Please visit the Contact page.
Who is your favorite writer?
Lucille Clifton is amazing, ya’ll. Her collection Good Woman was transformational. I also love Natalie Diaz, Reginald Dwayne Betts, Gloria Anzaldua, Junot Diaz, Julia Alvarez, The Drawbridge Collective, and too many of my contemporaries to name.
I want to be a writer/performer, how do I become one?
I think it’s important for all artists to take in the work they want to put out. If you want to be a writer you read widely and read as a writer. You read trying to figure out how the writer created the feeling in you that did. How they create such a precise image. How they their work arrived at places that felt both surprising and inevitable. If you want to be a performer, you watch as many one-person shows as you can, you watch as many comedians as you can, and you watch poets present in varying styles. You study. You practice what moves you, you reconfigure what does not work. And you make sure that imitation is practice, but that the final product is true to your unique voice and the gifts you’ve been given.
If I send you an email will you read it and comment on my poem?
I read every email that comes my way, and appreciate hearing from everyone who encounters my work. Unfortunately due to the high volume of requests and to the demanding timeline of my own work, I wouldn’t be able to provide the highest quality feedback to your work. BUT, I think the fact that you know your work needs other eyes is dope. Consider finding a critique partner or poetry collective, or someone you trust to read your work. Handing off something you worked on can be an intimate experience, so having the voice of someone you trust care for your work is important!
I would like to perform one of your poems for my speech/debate/team/drama/open mic/ competition. Can I have your permission to perform your poem.
You got it! Just make sure you cite me as the author of the poem.
I just saw on your Events page you’ll be making an appearance at a school nearby. Can I come?
The best person to ask would be the university or school where I’m appearing. Every school has a different policy and I’m not always aware of the nuances regarding public attendance at each presentation.
The Poet X
Jennifer Hubert Swan
The Horn Book Magazine. 94.2 (March-April 2018): p76.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 The Horn Book, Inc.. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Sources, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.hbook.com/magazine/default.asp
Full Text:
* The Poet X
by Elizabeth Acevedo
High School HarperTeen 361 pp. g
3/18 978-0-06-266280-4 $17.99 e-book ed. 978-0-06-266282-8 $9.99
Fifteen-year-old Xiomara, whose name means "one who is ready for war," has been fighting her whole life. The self-described "brown and big and angry" Dominican girl from Harlem furiously confronts catcalling boys, chafes under her Catholic parents' restrictive rules, and both adores and resents her "genius" twin brother, who seems to be everything she's not. She finds moments of peace by writing in her poetry journal, joining a spoken-word poetry club, and exploring a blossoming romance with Aman, her science partner. The slow-burning suspense of what will transpire when devout Marni discovers Xiomara and Aman's clandestine relationship is eclipsed only by the devastation that occurs when Marni finds and reads Xiomara's candid journal. But Xiomara must brave Mami's ire if she is ever going to realize her writing dream. Spoken-word artist Acevedo's debut verse novel is an arresting portrait of a young poet coming into her own. In nearly every poem, there is at least one universal truth about adolescence, family, gender, race, religion, or sexuality that will have readers either nodding in grateful acknowledgment or blinking away tears. "It almost feels like / the more I bruise the page / the quicker something inside me heals."
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Swan, Jennifer Hubert. "The Poet X." The Horn Book Magazine, Mar.-Apr. 2018, p. 76. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A530106794/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=f4babced. Accessed 23 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A530106794
Acevedo, Elizabeth. The Poet X
Pamela Thompson
Voice of Youth Advocates. 40.6 (Feb. 2018): p52.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
http://www.voya.com
Full Text:
Acevedo, Elizabeth. The Poet X. HarperTeen, March 2018.368p. $17.99. 978-0-06-266280-4.
4Q * 3P * J * S
Xiomara's Harlem neighborhood consists of gypsy cabs, stoop-sitting on a hot day, kids running through water spurting from a nearby hydrant, old men playing dominos and laughing. Her immigrant parents came to America from the Dominican Republic to make a better life for their family. Her father is mostly absent or absent-minded, a shadow at home, while strictly religious Mami has her nose buried in her Bible and in prayer. Mami cannot or will not help her daughter get from childhood to young womanhood. Her advice to Xiomara consists of: pray, go to church, ignore boys and men, do not get pregnant, do not be an embarrassment. Xiomara and her twin brother Twin used to be close; she used to defend her smaller twin by fighting for him. Now, they are mostly just different. Twin is a genius who has little in common with his sister. Xiomara does not like the attention of strangers, but men and boys give her plenty of it. When she meets Aman, the world suddenly makes sense. This must be love--the sneaking around, all these feelings, all the longing. Aman makes Xiomara feel special. Poetry serves as an outlet for Xiomara--the way she tries to figure things out--so when her notebook is discovered and nearly destroyed, she reacts with anger--and then, she gets vocal with her poetry. Xiomara becomes the Poet X as she slams her way to freedom and womanhood.
Acevedo captures the sounds and sights of Xiomaras Harlem neighborhood poignantly and vividly in this shining debut. In this triumphant coming-of-age novel in verse, the protagonist finds her voice and is celebrated (finally) by her family and her school. With a wide range of important, relatable themes and an authentic voice, consider this a must-have for novels-in-verse and poetry collections. --Pamela Thompson.
QUALITY
5Q Hard to imagine it being better written.
4Q Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses.
3Q Readable, without serious defects.
2Q Better editing or work by the author might have warranted a 3Q.
1Q Hard to understand how it got published, except in relation to its P rating (and not even then sometimes).
POPULARITY
5P Every YA (who reads) was dying to read it yesterday.
4P Broad general or genre YA appeal.
3P Will appeal with pushing.
2P For the YA reader with a special interest in the subject.
1P No YA will read unless forced to for assignments.
GRADE LEVEL INTEREST
M Middle School (defined as grades 6-8).
J Junior High (defined as grades 7-9).
S Senior High (defined as grades 10-12).
A/YA Adult-marketed book recommended for YAs.
NA New Adult (defined as college-age).
R Reluctant readers (defined as particularly suited for reluctant readers).
(a) Highlighted Reviews Graphic Novel Format
(G) Graphic Novel Format
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Thompson, Pamela. "Acevedo, Elizabeth. The Poet X." Voice of Youth Advocates, Feb. 2018, p. 52. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A529357100/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=e5908bb0. Accessed 23 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A529357100
The Poet X
Publishers Weekly. 265.4 (Jan. 22, 2018): p86+.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
* The Poet X
Elizabeth Acevedo. HarperTeen, $17.99
(368p) ISBN 978-0-06-266280-4
Harlem sophomore Xiomara Batista isn't saintly like her virtuous twin brother. And her tough exterior--she's always ready to fend off unwelcome advances and unkind words--hides questions and insecurities. As her confirmation nears (after two failed attempts), Xiomara begins to voice her uncertainties about the Catholic faith and patriarchal piety pressed on her by her mother and the church. Both intrigued and disgusted by the advances of her peers and older men, she begins a secret relationship with her lab partner Aman, who seems interested in more than her curves ("who knew words,/ when said by the right person,/ by a boy who raises your temperature,/ moves heat like nothing else?"). Xiomara pours her innermost self into poems and dreams of competing in poetry slams, a passion she's certain her conservative Dominican parents will never accept. Debut novelist Acevedo's free verse gives Xiomara's coming-of-age story an undeniable pull, its emotionally charged bluntness reflecting her determination and strength. At its heart, this is a complex and sometimes painful exploration of love in its many forms, with Xiomara's growing love for herself reigning supreme. Ages 13-up. Agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary. (Mar.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"The Poet X." Publishers Weekly, 22 Jan. 2018, p. 86+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A525839865/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=de3f3455. Accessed 23 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A525839865
Acevedo, Elizabeth: THE POET X
Kirkus Reviews. (Jan. 15, 2018):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Acevedo, Elizabeth THE POET X HarperTeen (Children's Fiction) $17.99 3, 6 ISBN: 978-0-06-266280-4
Poetry helps first-generation Dominican-American teen Xiomara Batista come into her own.
Fifteen-year old Xiomara ("See-oh-MAH-ruh," as she constantly instructs teachers on the first day of school) is used to standing out: she's tall with "a little too much body for a young girl." Street harassed by both boys and grown men and just plain harassed by girls, she copes with her fists. In this novel in verse, Acevedo examines the toxicity of the "strong black woman" trope, highlighting the ways Xiomara's seeming unbreakability doesn't allow space for her humanity. The only place Xiomara feels like herself and heard is in her poetry--and later with her love interest, Aman (a Trinidadian immigrant who, refreshingly, is a couple inches shorter than her). At church and at home, she's stifled by her intensely Catholic mother's rules and fear of sexuality. Her present-but-absent father and even her brother, Twin (yes, her actual twin), are both emotionally unavailable. Though she finds support in a dedicated teacher, in Aman, and in a poetry club and spoken-word competition, it's Xiomara herself who finally gathers the resources she needs to solve her problems. The happy ending is not a neat one, making it both realistic and satisfying. Themes as diverse as growing up first-generation American, Latinx culture, sizeism, music, burgeoning sexuality, and the power of the written and spoken word are all explored with nuance.
Poignant and real, beautiful and intense, this story of a girl struggling to define herself is as powerful as Xiomara's name: "one who is ready for war." (Verse fiction. 14-18)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Acevedo, Elizabeth: THE POET X." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Jan. 2018. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A522642922/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=0a1560cf. Accessed 23 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A522642922
The Poet X
Jessica Anne Bratt
Booklist. 114.5 (Nov. 1, 2017): p66.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
The Poet X.
By Elizabeth Acevedo.
Mar. 2018. 368p. HarperTeen, $17.99 (9780062662804); e-book, $17.99 (9780062662828). Gr. 9-12.
This coming-of-age story from the streets of Harlem centers on Xiomara Barista, a teenage poet seeking to express herself. X has loved writing down her thoughts from an early age. Unfortunately, she doesn't get to share them with her family, due to her mother's strict dedication to making sure X is focused on being a good Catholic girl. When X starts questioning her faith and realizes her brother is hiding his own secrets from their mother, she starts figuring out how she can stand up for herself and her beliefs. The story, though centered around the family drama, explores other poignant themes facing girls today, diving into human sexuality, the psychological impacts of going through an early puberty, and how girls have to fend off advances from men--as well as the slut-shaming stigma that simultaneously can come from women. Ultimately, though, this is a powerful, heartwarming tale of a girl not afraid to reach out and figure out her place in the world.--Jessica Anne Bratt
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Bratt, Jessica Anne. "The Poet X." Booklist, 1 Nov. 2017, p. 66. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A515383106/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=d85c064d. Accessed 23 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A515383106
ACEVEDO, Elizabeth. The Poet X
Della Farrell
School Library Journal. 64.3 (Mar. 2018): p111.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
* ACEVEDO, Elizabeth. The Poet X. 368p. HarperCollins/HarperTeen. Mar. 2018. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780062662804. POP
Gr 7 Up--Magnificently crafted, Acevedo's bildungsroman in verse is a stunning account of a teen girl's path to poetry. Sophomore Xiomara Batista is simultaneously invisible and hyper visible at home, school, and in her largely Dominican community in Harlem--her body is "unhide-able" she tells readers early on, yet she bristles at how others project their desires, insecurities, failures, patriarchal attitudes toward her. Though she is quick to battle and defend herself and her twin brother Xavier, Xiomara's inner life sensitively grapples with these projections and the expectations of her strict, religious mother. Acevedo's depiction of a faith in crisis is exceedingly relatable and teens, especially those going through the sacrament of Confirmation, will deeply appreciate Xiomara's thoughtful questioning of the Church and how it treats women. Forbidden kisses with a crush and an impromptu performance at an open mic prove to be euphoric, affirming moments for Xiomara: "it's beautiful and real and what I wanted." Acevedo's poetry is skillfully and gorgeously crafted, each verse can be savored on its own, but together they create a portrait of a young poet sure to resonate with readers long after the book's end. VERDICT Truly a "lantern glowing in the dark" for aspiring poets everywhere. All YA collections will want to share and treasure this profoundly moving work.--Della Farrell, School Library Journal
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Farrell, Della. "ACEVEDO, Elizabeth. The Poet X." School Library Journal, Mar. 2018, p. 111. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A529863580/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=116602fa. Accessed 23 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A529863580
YA novel 'The Poet X' is an elegiac meditation on poesy and religion
Katie Ward Beim-Esche
The Christian Science Monitor. (Mar. 23, 2018): Arts and Entertainment:
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 The Christian Science Publishing Society
http://www.csmonitor.com/About/The-Monitor-difference
Full Text:
Byline: Katie Ward Beim-Esche
Five minutes after opening The Poet X, the YA debut from poet Elizabeth Acevedo, I set the book down and tweeted, "Reading #ThePoetX without a pen is an exercise in futility. You will want to underline something astonishing on every single page."
That feeling never went away. Expect to use up multiple pens on this novel in verse, an elegiac meditation on poesy and religion.
Xiomara Batista, sometimes "X," is the only daughter of strict Dominican immigrants. She was born a fighter - feet first, fists waving, given a name that means "one who is ready for war" - and she's been battling ever since.
As a woman in NYC and an agnostic in a devout Catholic household, Xiomara is always on the defensive. Everyone looks at this tough, beautiful girl with a curvy figure, but no one actually sees her. Both she and her twin brother, Xavier, whom she calls "Twin," struggle to hide their true selves within the family's small Harlem apartment.
The dominant message seems to be, your words do not matter and your voice should not be heard. For a poet, that dog won't hunt. Words and a right hook are Xiomara's weapons of choice; she uses her hands when her voice has been silenced.
Not long into the fall term, Xiomara's English teacher invites her to join the Spoken Word Poetry Club and compete in local slam competitions. This turns out to be a borderline spiritual experience. Practicing at home, X finds poetry to be a place she can finally "let [her] body take up all the space it wants."
Throughout the novel, Xiomara ruminates about where she fits, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Her body, she says, "takes up more room than [my] voice."
"Even with my Amazon frame, / I feel too small for all that's inside me," she confesses. (Check out Acevedo performing this poem here.) Much later, Xiomara writes, "I think about all the things we could be / if we were never told our bodies were not built for them."
Poetry gives X back her voice, but it's an Eden apple: the poetry club meets on the same night as confirmation class, which X's mother is forcing her to take.
Senora Batista sees herself as a modern Hannah. Childless for many years, the Batistas view twins as a divine gift and have upended their lives in honor of it. Gregarious, skirt-chasing Papi became quiet, solemn, borderline invisible ("a converted man-whore"). Mami, already pious, became even more fervent ("the only man Mami wanted was nailed to a cross. ... / I don't think Mami's ever forgiven Papi / for making her cheat on Jesus.").
Yet Mami cannot seem to grasp that neither X is a Samuel; these two are not on loan from the Lord, not destined for the godliest of lives. For a deep-thinking doubter like Xiomara, confirmation class is just another exercise in biting her tongue and unraveling it later via verse.
"It's not any one thing / that makes me wonder / about the capital G.O.D. / About a holy trinity / that don't include the mother," she writes. "It's all the things."
How does the church fit into a woman's life, she wonders, "when I'm told girls / Shouldn't. Shouldn't. Shouldn't. / When I'm told / To wait. To stop. To obey." Later on, she rails against being told "to have faith / in the father the son / in men and men are the first ones / to make me feel so small."
What do you do when your parents' number one priority doesn't even crack your top 20? Did a young Samuel also strain against parental expectation? Xiomara, gasping for breath in Mami's straitjacket of criticism and zealotry, casts about for answers.
"What's the point of God giving me life / if I can't live it as my own?" she writes. "Why does listening to his commandments / so often mean I need to shut down my own voice?"
Meanwhile, she falls for a guy in her school, Aman, who recognizes her intellect and loves to hear her poems. Their relationship provides some of the sweetest, keenest lines:
"Every time I think about Aman / poems build inside me / like I've been gifted a box of metaphor Legos / that I stack and stack and stack. / I keep waiting for someone to knock them over," she swoons, despite Mami's voice in her head screaming sin, lust, devil, whore, unholy.
And later, she thinks, "I wanted to tell her [X's best friend] that if Aman were a poem / he'd be written slumped across the page, / sharp lines, and a witty punch line / written on a bodega brown paper bag."
"The Poet X" has its share of heavy stuff, to be sure. (There's also a fair amount of lovely PG-13 content.) But in every devastating moment, every existential wrestle, Acevedo sows seeds of beauty and growth. Xiomara digs deep to reclaim her identity and her voice, in spite of her rough circumstances.
"Maybe," she ponders, "the only thing that has to make sense / about being somebody's friend / is that you help them be their best selves / on any given day. That you give them a home / when they don't want to be in their own."
Within the verses of "The Poet X," by turns lean and lush, Acevedo builds that home for her readers. Don't miss this one.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Beim-Esche, Katie Ward. "YA novel 'The Poet X' is an elegiac meditation on poesy and religion." Christian Science Monitor, 23 Mar. 2018. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A532066483/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=af39d66c. Accessed 23 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A532066483
Book Reviews II, Volume II
Multiplicitous Mythologies
Elizabeth Acevedo on origin, body, and belonging
In her 42-page poetry chapbook from YesYes Books, Beastgirl & Other Origin myths, Elizabeth Acevedo explores the stories from which she comes. Some pulling directly from common folklore, and some are of herself/her own body.
The first poem, “La Ciguapa,” is about a figure from Dominican folklore—a demon with dark eyes, immense black hair, and backward-facing feet. She is a succubus-like creature who has wreaked havoc on people, who “don’t know until they’re whittled down how they’ve scraped // themselves dead.” But she has all but been forgotten by her people by the end of the poem. Acevedo continues to explore themes of home, family, and what gets forgotten throughout the rest of this book.
Through these 21 poems, we get to see the mythologies that informs the genesis of Acevedo herself.
In “Conversations,” her mother says “daughters are meant to veil themselves behind the skirt / of their mothers. When are you going to visit?” In this passage, Acevedo leads the reader to contemplate one of the thorniest things about family: how we decide to direct our own body of mirrors. Whether we should point them to our parents, trying to replicate what they’ve shown us, or try to get rid of the mirrors altogether, so that we can build a self on our own.
Beastgirl explores these questions, and lands on several answers. No possibility is outright excluded and that is what makes her voice so real.
She goes between daughter, sister, self, and mother constantly, showing us how we all exist in many realms at the same time, all the while acknowledging that existing in with complex identities doesn’t come easily.
The transition between poems and states of being is almost seamless in this book. We go from “Pressing,” a soft, guilty, but fervent piece about discovering her self in masturbation, to “Stranger Tells Me My Body Be a Temple,” where she is catcalled and earnestly defies what is said, goes inside the catcaller’s manufactured temple and shows us how she dismantles it and reclaims what was always already hers.
pray that shitty pick-up line elsewhere.
Because if anything this body is the pure
holy of instinct
like closing your eyes
and guiding an earring
into long ago pierced flesh.
She talks femininity, masculinity, and the divine, or what those things pretend to be most times. And she’s not afraid to tell us what scares her. “It Almost Curdles My Womb Dry” stirs our guts, imagines a scenario where her fictional daughter gets enveloped in other people’s violences. Almost every line until the last four end in the hard stop of a period, like sitting in the jerking car of someone learning to drive, terrified but trying to say it’s fine.
Imagine the boys.
They will help me carry grocery bags.
Then whistle. Whisper.
Crook fingers in my daughter’s direction.
She will accept their invitation.
The strength of her voice on the page is also evident in her work on the stage, where we get to see full passion about what she writes. Watch her performance of “Rat Ode” here:
In “Regularization Plan for Foreigners, 1922”:
He holds her clothes, his bella negra of accented Spanish,
who does not think how a single word pronounced wilted
could force him to dig the ditch for her.
she asks how we deal with where our bodies come from and where we should put them now?
Acevedo is both a Cave Canem and a CantoMundo fellow. Cave Canem is a home for African American writers, and CantoMundo one for Latinx poets. She always lives in the body of someone who is more than one thing, no matter the circumstance, and her poetry in this collection doesn’t try to run from that. She doesn’t pretend to know the answers, but she doesn’t stop looking for them either.
Purchase Beastgirl & Other Origin Myths from YesYes Books.
Elizabeth Acevedo’s full-length book of poetry, Medusa Reads La Negra’s Palm, is forthcoming in 2017 from Tupelo Press.
For more information, see her website.
September 4, 2017
Thoughts on “Beastgirl & Other Origin Myths” by Elizabeth Acevedo
This 32-page edition from YesYes Books‘ Vinyl 45 Series is a quick read but demands an almost-immediate re-read, with many lingering tales of superstitions and personal anecdotes. I was left hungering for a thicker collection to sink my teeth into. I drowned in some of the poems here: “La Santa Maria”, which explored the terrible history of conquest and peoples born out of the remains of “an ocean of ghosts / … hundreds of thousands.”
Many pieces paint a beautiful homage to Acevedo’s Dominican ancestry and cultural traditions, with a little imagination sprinkled in. Poems that explore Trujillo, La Ciguapa, and brujeria mingle with pieces that take on a more personal note, from her family’s immigration to her own body.
Acevedo has been vocal about body positivity and love of self for years, and her poem “Pressing” continues this platform:
“I close my eyes & hold a couch cushion on top of my lap / press thumb to self fervently, moan… / press & pray…”
The honesty, too, in Acevedo’s poetry is necessary. She writes, in “Liminalities”, about a childhood betrayal when she might have given over the “hardened…egg” of another girl’s name to “some older gang members” who proceeded to attack her. She writes also of a time, fictional or not, when she witnessed a young teenage girl being fondled by a European tourist and, after continuing to sip her Presidente, called for help. Justice is twisted up in personal fears, desires, and uncertainties in this chapbook.
One of my favorite themes of Beastgirl & Other Origin Myths was that of her family, who appear in political poems, mythological poems, and personal musings. Her mother, especially, shows up numerous times, whether to tell a bedtime story or show the poet how handwashing one’s delicates results in a superior cleaning.
My favorite poem is “It Almost Curdles my Womb Dry.” This piece is a promise from Acevedo to her daughter that she will “not smile polite as men make war on her” but that she will be strong enough to resist shame, sexism, violence, and silencing. If we can’t all have Acevedo for a mother, perhaps we can be satisfied with her as a role model and teacher instead.