Albuquerque, NM (KKOB) — A Cuban-Peruvian poet from Albuquerque has won the ‘Academy of American Poets’ First Book Award’. Sara Daniele Rivera received $5000, a six-week residency at an artist community in the Umbria region of Italy and a book deal with Graywolf Press. The AP says the firm next year will publish her debut collection “The Blue Mimes.” Poet Eduardo Corral chose Rivera’s manuscript for the first book prize. In a statement released Tuesday through the academy, he praised Rivera for her “beautifully and deftly crafted” poems, and her compelling evocation of loss. The 33-year-old Rivera is a writer, artist, translator and educator.
