Brandon Som

Brandon Som
Born (1975-08-13) August 13, 1975 (age 49)
Education
OccupationPoet
AwardsPulitzer Prize for Poetry (2024)

Brandon Som (born August 13, 1975)[1] is an American poet. His collections include The Tribute Horse (2014) and Tripas: Poems (2023), which won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 2024. He is an associate professor of literature and creative writing at the University of California, San Diego.[2]

Life and career

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Som was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona.[1] He is of Mexican and Chinese descent.[3]

He received his Bachelor of Arts at Arizona State University,[4] Master of Fine Arts at the University of Pittsburgh in 2002,[5][4] and PhD at the University of Southern California in 2014.[4][6] From 2013 to 2014, Som was a dissertation fellow at the Center for Transpacific Studies at USC Dornsife.[7]

Som's chapbook of poetry, Babel's Moon, was published in 2011.[4][8] His first complete collection of poems, The Tribute Horse, was published in 2014,[9][10] winning the Kate Tufts Discovery Award in 2015.[11]

Som's next collection, Tripas: Poems, was published by the University of Georgia Press in 2023.[12] It was a finalist for the National Book Award for Poetry and won the Pulitzer Prize.[13][14] The Pulitzer credit said the book "deeply engages with the complexities of the poet's dual Mexican and Chinese heritage, highlighting the dignity of his family's working lives, creating community rather than conflict".[14]

Bibliography

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Poetry

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  • Babel's Moon (2011)
  • The Tribute Horse (2014)
  • Tripas: Poems (2023)

References

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  1. ^ a b "Brandon Som". Pennsylvania Center for the Book, Pennsylvania State University. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  2. ^ "Brandon Som". University of California, San Diego. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  3. ^ "Brandon Som". Academy of American Poets. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d "Brandon Som". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  5. ^ "2 Pitt alums are 2024 Pulitzer Prize winners". University of Pittsburgh. May 7, 2024. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
  6. ^ "Som Wins Poetry Prize". News and Events. March 12, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
  7. ^ "Dissertation Fellows". Center for Transpacific Studies. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
  8. ^ Eilbert, Natalie (December 26, 2012). "'Babel's Moon' by Brandon Som". The Rumpus. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  9. ^ Yau, John (August 28, 2016). "Foreign Sounds or Sounds Foreign". Hyperallergic. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  10. ^ Clarke, Meriwether (Fall–Winter 2014). "The Tribute Horse by Brandon Som". Asian American Literary Review. Vol. 5, no. 2.
  11. ^ "CGU announces winners of 2015 Kingsley and Kate Tufts Poetry Awards: Angie Estes and Brandon Som". Claremont Graduate University. February 25, 2015. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  12. ^ "Book shares poems at the intersection of Asian and Latine communities". University of Georgia. May 19, 2023. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  13. ^ "Tripas". National Book Foundation. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  14. ^ a b "Tripas: Poems, by Brandon Som (Georgia Review Books)". Pulitzer Prize. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
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