Benjamin Alire Sáenz, the first Latino author to win the PEN/Faulkner Award, dies at age 71. Multiple outlets report that he died on July 28 in El Paso, Texas, following a lengthy illness, according to a spokesperson for his publisher, Simon & Schuster. Born in New Mexico, Sáenz worked as a writer of novels and poetry, including books for young adults. He wrote acclaimed works such as “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe,” which PBS highlights, and his broader fiction and poetry won critical recognition.
PBS and other coverage describe Sáenz as an ordained Catholic priest who later came out as gay in his 50s, and several sources note that his writing drew on aspects of his sexuality and on his experiences connected to the U.S. southern border. The Guardian also states that he was the first Latino winner of the PEN/Faulkner prize, citing his prize-winning story collection. Across the reports, Sáenz is consistently described as a celebrated, widely read writer whose work earned praise and, in some cases, faced censorship.
