Leslie Sainz
Photo by Meg Reid
Bio
Leslie Sainz is a first generation Cuban American, born and raised in Miami, Florida. A 2019 National Poetry Series Finalist, she holds degrees in creative writing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Carnegie Mellon University. Her poems have appeared in AGNI, jubilat, Narrative, Black Warrior Review, Ninth Letter, Hayden’s Ferry Review, the Adroit Journal, and elsewhere. She’s received scholarships, fellowships, and honors from CantoMundo, the Miami Writers Institute, the Adroit Journal, and the Stadler Center for Poetry & Literary Arts at Bucknell University, where she was a 2018-2019 Stadler Fellow. She is currently working on her first collection of poems.
As someone who has suffered from a pervasive sense of imposter syndrome throughout their life, a Creative Writing Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts—at such an early stage of my writing career—has rendered me near speechless. I am astounded by the company my poems keep, and the idea that this year’s distinguished committee of poets found something to admire in my work is an honor I will forever treasure. I wholeheartedly believe in my responsibility to share this gift with the communities that make my work possible, and I intend to do just that. In addition to the overwhelming financial stability this fellowship provides, I have also been awarded the profound sense of hope that the stories of my ancestors resonate beyond the boundaries of family and culture. I am so very grateful for this award, and I intend on living up to it.