We are pleased to congratulate two Massachusetts-based literary artists who were recently recognized with prestigious honors.
Martín Espada and Yara Liceaga-Rojas are among the inaugural recipients of the Letras Boricuas Fellowship.
The first-of-its-kind fellowship was developed by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Flamboyan Foundation’s Arts Fund to support 20 Puerto Rican writers in genres spanning fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and children’s literature.
Yara Liceaga-Rojas, of Cambridge, received a Letras Boricuas Fellowship in Creative Nonfiction. Martín Espada, a professor at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, received an award in Poetry.
Along with the Letras Boricuas Fellowship, Yara Liceaga-Rojas has received numerous other awards and honors, including the Boston Foundation’s Brother Thomas Fellowship.
National Book Award
In November, the National Book Foundation announced that Martín Espada’s poetry collection Floaters received a 2021 National Book Award.
The National Book Awards, founded in 1950, are among the highest honors in American literature.
Martín Espada received Massachusetts state poetry fellowships in 1984 and 1996.
Images: the Letras Boricuas Fellowship from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Flamboyan Foundation’s Arts Fund; Yara Liceaga-Rojas, photo by The Boston Foundation; FLOATERS by Martin Espada (W. W. Norton & Company 2021).
Yara Liceaga-Rojas says
¡Gracias por compartir! Thank you for sharing. It’s truly an honor to share space with such a wonderful poet, Martin Espada.