Ada Limón

Ada Limón (born March 28, 1976) is an American poet.

Life

Limón grew up in Sonoma, California, before attending The University of Washington where she studied theater at the University of Washington School of Drama. After taking writing courses from professors, including Colleen J. McElroy, she went on to receive her MFA from New York University in 2001, where she studied with Sharon Olds, Philip Levine, Marie Howe, Mark Doty, Agha Shahid Ali, and Tom Sleigh and is also a beneficiary of the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, and the Kentucky Foundation for Women. Her graduate class included the noted poets, Jennifer L. Knox, Gregory Pardlo, Jason Schneiderman, Kazim Ali, and Kathleen Graber.

Upon graduation, she received a fellowship to live and write at the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center. In 2003 she had also received a grant from the New York Foundation for the Arts and won the Chicago Literary Award for Poetry.

After 12 years in New York City, where she worked for various magazines such as Martha Stewart Living, GQ, and Travel + Leisure, she now lives in Lexington, Kentucky and Sonoma, California where she writes and teaches.

Work

Limón's first book, Lucky Wreck was chosen by Jean Valentine as the winner of the Autumn House Poetry Prize in 2005, while her second book This Big Fake World was the winner of the Pearl Poetry Prize in 2006. The two books came out within less than a year of each other. In a 2014 article in Compose Magazine, she wrote "I went from having no books at all, to having two in the span of a year. I felt like I had won the lottery, well, without the money. I suppose, in my life, I’ve never done things the ordinary way. I’m either deep in the bottom of the well or nowhere near water." She serves on the faculty of [Queens University of Charlotte Low Residency] M.F.A program, and the 24Pearl Street online program for the Provincetown [Fine Arts Work Center].

Her third book, Sharks in the Rivers was released in 2010 from Milkweed Editions. Of which the Brooklyn Rail said, "Unlike much contemporary poetry, Limón’s work isn’t text-derivative or deconstructivist. She personalizes her homilies, stamping them with the authenticity of invention and self-discovery." Limón's fourth book, Bright Dead Things, was released in 2015. She was a finalist for the 2015 National Book Award for Poetry.

While still at work on two fiction projects as well as non-fiction pieces, Limón's poems continue to be published widely. Limón's poem "State Bird" appeared in the June 2, 2014 issue The New Yorker and her poem, "How to Triumph Like a Girl" was recently awarded the Pushcart Prize. Another piece she released in 2013 was [How to Triumph Like a Girl] one more bazaar poems she has written. It portrays the different aspect of being a lady horse. Her work has also appeared in the [New Yorker], the [Harvard Review] and the [Pleiades].

Limon served as a judge for the 2013 National Book Award in poetry.

Bibliography

Poetry

Collections

• Limón, Ada (2006). Lucky wreck. Autumn House Press. 
• This Big Fake World, Pearl Editions, 2006 ISBN 978-1-888219-35-7
• Sharks in the Rivers, Milkweed Editions, 2010 ISBN 978-1-57131-438-3
• Bright Dead Things, Milkweed Editions, 2015 ISBN 978-1-57131-925-8

List of poems

References

• An Interview with Poet Ada Limón
• The New Yorker,"Crush"
• Harvard Review, "Overjoyed"
• Two Poems by Ada Limón, "Marketing Life For Those Of Us Left" and "A Name"
• Two Poems by Ada Limón, "61 Trees" and "rest Stop"

External links

• Official Site
• Official Blog