Sheryl Luna, a lecturer in the Department of English at the Metropolitan State College of Denver, will receive the inaugural Andr茅s Montoya Poetry Prize, given by the University of 91吃瓜s Institute for Latino Studies (ILS).p. The prize, which is the first of its kind in the United States, honors a full-length manuscript by a Latino/a poet who has yet to publish a book. 鈥淧ity the Drowned Horses鈥� will be published by the University of 91吃瓜 Press, after which Luna will visit 91吃瓜 to read from her work.p. 鈥淚n 鈥楶ity the Drowned Horses,鈥� Sheryl carves out of the El Paso landscape the music of the borderlands where loss and acceptance converge,鈥� said Robert Vasquez, the final judge for the prize and an award-winning poet. 鈥淪he exquisitely captures, like no other poet before her, the unsung positive capability of the desert. Her syntax, sometimes raw and edgy, creates a tableau where everything rushes toward 聭our wild needall sweat, all shiver.The overall effect is simply mesmerizing.鈥漰. Coordinated by ILS fellow and poet Francisco Arag贸n, the prize honors the late Andr茅s Montoya, the author of the award-winning collection, 鈥淭he Ice Worker Sings.鈥� Montoya was the son of the renowned Chicano artist Malaquias Montoya, who was one of the first ILS fellows.p. 鈥淚 modeled the prize after the Cave Canem Poetry Prize, which is a first book award for African-American poets,鈥� Arag贸n said. 鈥淚 noticed there was a first book prize for Latino fiction writers, but not for Latino poets.鈥漰. Luna, a finalist for the 2003 National Poetry Series book awards and the Perugia Press Intro Award for a first or second book by a woman, has had poems from her winning manuscript published widely in literary journals across the country, including The Georgia Review, Prairie Schooner, Poetry Northwest, The Amherst Review, and Kalliope: A Journal of Womens Art and Literature.p. A graduate of Texas Tech University, Luna holds master鈥檚 degrees from Texas Woman鈥檚 University and the University of Texas, El Paso, and a doctorate from the University of North Texas.p. The ILS was established in 1999 to promote understanding and appreciation of the Latino experience in the United States through research, education and outreach. Its areas of study include Latino spirituality, art, culture, literature, history, politics and socioeconomic conditions.p.
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