Virgil Suárez

Virgil Suárez (born January 29, 1962, Havana, Cuba) is a poet and novelist. He is a professor of English at Florida State University. He is one of the leading writers in the Cuban American community, He moved to the U.S. in 1974. He went to high school in Los Angeles, California. His novel The Cutter was described by Publishers Weekly as a "powerful novel about one individual's response to the abuses and arbitrariness of totalitarianism [that] shows us how ordinary people can be driven to take extraordinary risks." New York Public Library named the collection as one of the top books for the Teen Age.

Personal life Suárez is married with children.

Published works The Painted Bunting's Last Molt, new poems, U. of Pittsburgh P, 2020. 90 Miles (Selected & New Poems), U of Pittsburgh P, 2005. Landscapes & Dreams (poems), Louisiana Literature P, 2003. Vespers: Spirituality in America (anthology), U of Iowa P, 2003. Guide to the Blue Tongue (poems), U of Illinois, 2002. Banyan (poems), Louisiana State U P, 2001. Palm Crows (poems), U of Arizona P, 2001. American Diaspora (anthology), U of Iowa P, 2001. The Cutter (reprint, novel), Ballatine/Available, 1991 and Arte Público Press, 1999. In the Republic of Longing (poems), Bilingual Review Press/Arizona State U, 2000. You Come Singing (poems), Tia Chucha/Northwestern UP, 1998. Garabato Poems (poems), Wings, 1998. Spared Angola (poems, essays, stories), Arte Publico Press, 1997. Going Under (novel), Arte Público Press, 1996. Havana Thursdays (novel), Arte Público Press, 1995. Iguana Dreams (anthology), HarperCollins, 1993. Welcome to the Oasis (stories) Arte Público Press, 1992. Latin Jazz (novel) William Morrow, 1989.

Shorter pieces have been published in: Ploughshares, Prairie Schooner, The Kenyon Review, Clackamas Literary Review, TriQuarterly, Colorado Review, The Southern Review, The Massachusetts Review, American Literary Review, The American Voice, The Caribbean Review, The North American Review, Manoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing, Puerto del Sol, Northwest Review, Mid-American Review, Blue Mesa Review, Crazy Horse, Cimarron, Tampa Review, and in Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, England, France, India, Israel, Spain, Venezuela, and New Zealand.

Awards Best American Poetry, 2004. G. MacCarthur Poetry Prize, 2002. The Daily News/The Caribbean Writer/University of the Virgin Islands Poetry Prize, 2002. National Endowment of the Arts Fellowship, 2001. The Book Expo America/Latino Literature Hall of Fame Poetry Prize for Best Book of Poetry (for Banyan), 2001. Winner of a Florida State Individual Artist Grant, 1998. Winner of New York Public Library's Best Book for the Teenager, 1993. Nominated for five Pushcart Prizes.