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Margarita Engle
Engle in 2014
Engle in 2014
Born (1951-09-02) September 2, 1951 (age 73)
Pasadena, California, U.S.
Occupation Writer
Nationality American
Education California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (BS)
Iowa State University (MS)
University of California, Riverside

Margarita Engle (born in Los Angeles, California on September 2, 1951) is a Cuban American poet and author. She has written many award-winning books for children, young adults, and grown-ups. Most of her stories are written in verse, which means they are like poems.

Her books often show her Cuban background and her love for nature. In 2009, she made history as the first Latino writer to win a Newbery Honor for her book The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom. From 2017 to 2019, she was chosen as the sixth Young People's Poet Laureate. This is a special role where she helped share poetry with young people. In 2018, she won the 2019 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature, which is a big award for children's authors. Her 2024 book, Wild Dreamers, was also recognized for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature.

Early Life and Cuban Roots

Margarita Engle's father was born in California, and her mother was from Trinidad, Cuba. Even though Margarita grew up in California, she spent many summers visiting her family in Cuba.

When she was a child, she learned about poetry in Spanish. She especially loved the poems of José Martí, a famous Cuban writer and hero. These early experiences helped shape her writing.

Her Journey to Becoming a Writer

Margarita Engle studied at several universities. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from California State Polytechnic University in 1974. Later, she received a Master of Science degree from Iowa State University in 1977. She also studied biology at the University of California, Riverside.

Before she became a full-time writer, Engle was a professor at California Polytechnic University. While she was working on her advanced degree, she took a creative writing class. This class, taught by Tomás Rivera, made her realize how much she loved to write. Today, she lives in Central California. She enjoys helping her husband with his volunteer work, training search and rescue dogs for wilderness missions.

Awards and Recognitions

Margarita Engle has won many awards for her amazing books. Here are some of them:

Awards for Her Overall Work

Awards for Specific Books

The Poet Slave of Cuba, A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano (2006)

The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom (2008)

Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba (2009)

  • 2010 Sydney Taylor Book Award
  • Paterson Prize
  • 2010 Américas Award Commendation

The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette's Journey to Cuba (2010)

Summer Birds: The Butterflies of Maria Merian (2010)

Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck (2011)

Drum Dream Girl (2015)

Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir (2015)

Forest World (2017)

Selected Books by Margarita Engle

  • Singing to Cuba (1993)
  • Skywriting (1995)
  • The Poet Slave of Cuba, a Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano (2006)
  • The Surrender Tree (2008)
  • Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba (2009)
  • The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette's Journey to Cuba (2010)
  • Summer Birds: The Butterflies of Maria Merian (2010)
  • Hurricane Dancers The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck (2011)
  • The Wild Book (2012)
  • When You Wander (2013)
  • The Lightning Dreamer (2013)
  • Mountain Dog (2013)
  • Orangutanka: A Story in Poems (2015)
  • Drum Dream Girl (2015)
  • Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir (2015)
  • Lion Island: Cuba's Warrior of Words (2017)
  • Dreams from Many Rivers (2019)
  • Jazz Owls: A Novel of the Zoot Suit Riots (2019)

See also

  • Cuban American literature
  • List of Cuban-American writers
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