Elizabeth Acevedo author page

Elizabeth Acevedo biography

Elizabeth Acevedo is an American poet and author whose work includes young adult fiction, novels in verse, and poetry. She earned a BA in Performing Arts from The George Washington University and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Maryland. Before publishing her novels, she developed a career in spoken-word poetry and became a National Poetry Slam Champion.

Her debut young adult novel, The Poet X, was published by HarperTeen in 2018. Told in verse, it follows Xiomara Batista, a Harlem teenager who turns to poetry and a school slam poetry club as she tries to make sense of her family relationships, faith, and growing independence. The novel won the 2018 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature and went on to receive the Michael L. Printz Award, Pura Belpré Author Award, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Walter Award, and Carnegie Medal.

Acevedo followed The Poet X with With the Fire on High, about a teenage mother with ambitions to become a chef, and Clap When You Land, a verse novel told through the alternating perspectives of two girls in New York City and the Dominican Republic whose lives become connected after a plane crash. She is also the author of Inheritance: A Visual Poem, illustrated by Andrea Pippins.

The Poetry Foundation appointed Acevedo its Young People’s Poet Laureate for 2022-2024, a role focused on encouraging young people and their families, teachers, and librarians to engage with poetry. Her next young adult novel, Anger Is Only a Shadow, is scheduled for publication by HarperCollins on September 15, 2026.