José Olivarez

José Olivarez
Olivarez at the 2019 Texas Book Festival
Born
Calumet City, Illinois, U.S.
Alma materHarvard University (BA)
Occupations
  • Poet
  • educator
Writing career
LanguageEnglish
GenrePoetry
Notable works

José Olivarez is an American poet and educator from Calumet City, Illinois. He is the author of the poetry collections Citizen Illegal (2018), which won the 2018 Chicago Review of Books Poetry Prize and was a finalist for the 2019 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, and Promises of Gold (2023), which was longlisted for the 2023 National Book Award for Poetry.[1][2]

Early life and education

Olivarez is the son of Mexican immigrants and was born and raised in Calumet City, Illinois.[3] He earned a BA from Harvard University.[3]

Career

Olivarez was involved with Young Chicago Authors and Urban Word NYC before the publication of his first full-length collection.[4] He was also a co-author of Home Court (2014) and co-host of the poetry podcast The Poetry Gods.[5]

His debut poetry collection, Citizen Illegal, was published by Haymarket Books in 2018.[6] Harvard Magazine described the collection as addressing race, migration, language, and the contradictions of the first-generation immigrant experience.[4] Publishers Weekly reviewed the book as a collection centered on family and Mexican American identity.[7] The book won the 2018 Chicago Review of Books Poetry Prize and was a finalist for the 2019 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award.[8][9]

His second collection, Promises of Gold, was published by Henry Holt and Company in 2023 with a Spanish translation by David Ruano.[10] The book was longlisted for the 2023 National Book Award for Poetry.[2] Publishers Weekly reviewed the collection as addressing Mexican identity, friendship, romantic love, food, and loss.[11] In a review for the Poetry Foundation, Diego Báez wrote that the poems explore desire and fulfillment through relationships with countries, cultures, lovers, friends, and family, and noted the collection's use of Spanish translation.[12]

Olivarez co-edited The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 4: LatiNEXT with Felicia Rose Chavez and Willie Perdomo.[1] His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Paris Review, and Poetry.[3]

Works

Awards and honors

References

  1. 1 2 3 "About José Olivarez". Academy of American Poets. Retrieved April 27, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 "Promises of Gold". National Book Foundation. Retrieved April 27, 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 "José Olivarez". The Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Foundation. Retrieved April 27, 2026.
  4. 1 2 Abugov, Josie (June 5, 2023). "For the Homies". Harvard Magazine. Retrieved April 27, 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 "José Olivarez". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved April 27, 2026.
  6. 1 2 "Citizen Illegal". Haymarket Books. Retrieved April 27, 2026.
  7. 1 2 "Citizen Illegal". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved April 27, 2026.
  8. 1 2 Morgan, Adam (December 11, 2018). "Here Are the Winners of the 2018 Chicago Review of Books Awards". Chicago Review of Books. Retrieved April 27, 2026.
  9. 1 2 "Announcing the 2019 PEN America Literary Awards Finalists". PEN America. January 15, 2019. Retrieved April 27, 2026.
  10. 1 2 "Promises of Gold". Macmillan. Retrieved April 27, 2026.
  11. 1 2 "Promises of Gold". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved April 27, 2026.
  12. 1 2 Báez, Diego. "Promises of Gold". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved April 27, 2026.
  13. ↑ Campanioni, Chris. "Assimilation as Disappearing Act: José Olivarez's Citizen Illegal". The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved April 27, 2026.
  14. ↑ Sutherland, Matt. "Citizen Illegal". Foreword Reviews. Retrieved April 27, 2026.
  15. ↑ Flores, Angelica (March 6, 2023). "Childhood Memories: A Review of Promises of Gold by José Olivarez". Newcity. Retrieved April 27, 2026.
  16. ↑ "Por Siempre". Haymarket Books. Retrieved April 27, 2026.
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