Acclaimed and Beloved Author Benjamin Alire Sáenz Dies at 71

Benjamin Alire Sáenz, an El Paso, Texas, author and artist, has died at the age of 71 following a long illness. Sáenz wrote across age categories and earned numerous awards for his work. Sáenz’s novel Carry Me Like Water and poetry collection Dark and Perfect Angels received Southwest Book Awards in 1996, and he won the PEN/Faulkner Book Award for Fiction in 2013 with his book Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club, a short story collection. He was the first Latino to win the honor. Sáenz saw his young adult literature earn several accolades, too, including a Printz Honor, Pura Belpré Award, and a Stonewall Book Award in 2013 for Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. That book was adapted into a film in 2023 and translated into 25 languages. Sáenz was born in New Mexico to a large family, and he went on to earn a degree from St. Thomas Seminary in Colorado. He then studied theology, entering the Catholic priesthood in El Paso for several years before stepping away. Sáenz went on to earn a master’s degree in creative writing. Much of his work explored the borderlands, and he built a long-term relationship with El Paso publisher Cinco Puntos Press. Sáenz’...