Son of Undocumented Farm Workers Receives Prestigious Poetry Award

Mexican poet Rigoberto Gonzalez, the son of illiterate and undocumented farmworkers, was chosen as the recipient of the PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry this year.

PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry, which was established by a bequest from Hunce Voelcker, is a prestigious recognition given out every two years to a poet who has accomplished significant and impactful presence in American literature.

According to the PEN America website, the PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry is given to a poet "who has expanded the scope of American poetry and continues to mature with each successive volume of poetry."

The recipient will also receive a stipend of $5,000 after being chosen by a panel of three to five poets or writers. 

Gonzalez's body of work boasts a number of influential pieces inspired by his roots as the son of undocumented Mexican farm workers.

Professor Rigoberto Gonzales teaches at the MFA writing programs of Queens College and Rutgers University-Newark.

(Photo : Rigoberto Gonzales)

He is being honored for his presence in American literature as well as his body of work of over 15 books of poetry and prose. His works include novels, memoirs, bilingual children's books, and The Book of Ruin, his most recent book of poetry.

He has also written for The National Book Critics Circle's blog, Critical Mass; and the Poetry Foundation's blog Harriet. Gonzalez also edited Camino del Sol: Fifteen Years of Latina and Latino Writing, Alurista's Xicano Duende: A Select Anthology, and a 2019 issue of Ploughshares.

Rigoberto Gonzalez was a faculty member of CantoMundo, an American literary organization that supports Latino poets and poetry. He is a founding member of the Advisory Circle of Con Tinta, a monthly columnist on NBC Latino online, and a critic-at-large for The Los Angeles Times.

He is currently on the boards of Zoeglossia: A Community for Writers with Disabilities, and The Poetry Society of America. He is also a member of the Writers Council for the Center for Fiction.

Gonzalez has been given several prestigious awards throughout his career. 

His work So Often the Pitcher Goes to Water until It Breaks (1999) was a National Poetry Series selection. He won a Lamba Literary Award for Unpeopled Eden in 2013 and received the ForeWord Magazine's Fiction Book of the Year Award for Crossing Vines in 2003.

Gonzales also received Guggenheim and NEA fellowships and various international artist residencies.

In 2014, he was awarded the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize by the Academy of American Poets.

Rigoberto Gonzales was born in Bakersfield, California and raised in Michoacan, Mexico. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Riverside. His study at the University of California, Davis and Arizona State University earned him his graduate degrees. 

The PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry's panel of judges said they were "captivated by his works and devotion to not only develop his astonishing voice but also to discern his craft as a reviewer and advocate for other Latinx voices."

On the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences-Newark website, Gonzalez expressed his joy in being chosen to receive the award, saying, "I'm the son of undocumented, illiterate Mexican farmworkers. My upbringing has not hindered my success and ambition. On the contrary, it has inspired me to be as dedicated, proud and hard-working as my parents."

The award will be given on March 2 during a live 2020 PEN America Literary Awards Ceremony hosted by Seth Meyers at the Town Hall in New York City.