A black-and-white portrait of Aracelis Girmay sitting on the grass with tall plants behind her. Een zwart-witportret van Aracelis Girmay zittend op het gras met hoge planten achter haar.

Aracelis Girmay (USA)

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Aracelis Girmay (USA)

Aracelis Girmay (1977, USA) is probably your favorite poet’s favorite poet. She is one of the most influential contemporary poets in the United States. Girmay takes you by the hand and zooms in all the way to the level of water being pulled up through roots, or else directs your gaze to what we so often look away from: violence, war, abuse, genocide. Always in a clear tone, with a singular kind of optimism and a love for people and for the world we somehow have to share.​

How you might know this poet

  • Finalist for the Neustadt International Prize for Literature (2018), one of the world’s most prestigious international literary awards, often called the “American Nobel”.​
  • Recipient of the Academy of American Poets Fellowship (2025), a highly selective national recognition for influential contemporary poets.​
  • This beautiful TED-Ed video, through which her poem For Estefani went viral.
A black-and-white portrait of Aracelis Girmay sitting on the grass with tall plants behind her. Een zwart-witportret van Aracelis Girmay zittend op het gras met hoge planten achter haar.
© Yekaterina Gyadu

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