Oliver Baez Bendorf (born 1987) is an American poet.

Early life and education

Oliver Baez Bendorf was born on June 21, 1987, in

Iowa City, Iowa Iowa City is the largest city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. At the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the population was 74,828, making it the state's List of cities in Iowa, fifth-most populous c ...

. His poems sometimes feature the landscape of his childhood, and his writing about returning to Iowa for a visit while transitioning genders was published in ''Buzzfeed''. He graduated with a BA from the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

in 2009. In 2013, he earned an MFA in poetry from the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

, where he met his teachers

Lynda Barry Linda Jean Barry (born January 2, 1956), known professionally as Lynda Barry, is an American cartoonist. Barry is best known for her weekly comic strip '' Ernie Pook's Comeek''. She garnered attention with her 1988 illustrated novel ''The Good T ...

Quan Barry Amy Quan Barry (born Saigon) is a Vietnamese American poet, novelist, and playwright. She is a recipient of the Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize. Barry is a Lorraine Hansberry Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Biog ...

, Amaud Jamaul Johnson,

Jesse Lee Kercheval Jesse Lee Kercheval (born 1956) is an American poet, memoirist, translator, fiction writer and visual artist. She is an emeritus professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She is the author of numerous books, notably ''Building Fiction, ...

, and Ronald Wallace. In 2015, he received an MA in Library and Information Studies, also from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he worked with The Little Magazine Collection, one of the most extensive of its kind in the United States. Bendorf is a fellow of the

CantoMundo CantoMundo is an American literary organization founded in 2009 to support Latino poets and poetry. It hosts an annual poetry workshop dedicated to the creation, documentation, and critical analysis of Latinx poetry. History CantoMundo was founded ...

Poetry Workshop.

Career

Bendorf's poetry publications include the book ''The Spectral Wilderness','' selected by

Mark Doty Mark Doty (born August 10, 1953) is an American poet and memoirist best known for his work ''My Alexandria.'' He was the winner of the National Book Award for Poetry in 2008. Early life Mark Doty was born in Maryville, Tennessee, to Lawrence ...

for the 2013 Stan & Tom Wick Poetry Prize, and released by

Kent State University Press Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Ashtabula, Burton, East Liverpool, Jackson Township, New Philadelphia ...

in 2015, and ''Advantages of Being Evergreen'', which was selected for the 2018 Open Book Poetry Competition from

Cleveland State University Poetry Center The Cleveland State University Poetry Center is a literary small press and poetry outreach organization in Cleveland, Ohio, operated under the auspices of the English Department at Cleveland State University. It publishes original works of poetry ...

and published in September 2019. American poet

Gabrielle Calvocoressi Gabrielle Calvocoressi is an American poet, editor, essayist, and professor. Life and career Gabrielle Calvocoressi was born in 1974 in central Connecticut. Their family owned movie theaters, including a drive-in, in several small towns across ...

called ''Advantages of Being Evergreen'' "an essential book for our time and for all time" and wrote that "Baez Bendorf is making a future grammar for the moment all of our vessels are free and held. I am living for the world these poems anticipate… This is a book of the earth’s abiding wonder. And the body’s unbreakable ability to bloom." His third book of poems, ''Consider the Rooster'', published by

Nightboat Books Nightboat Books is an American nonprofit literary press founded in 2004 and located in Brooklyn, New York. The press publishes poetry, fiction, essays, translations, and intergenre books. History The press was founded in 2004 by Kazim Ali and ...

in 2024, was a finalist for the 2024 National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry and was named one of the best poetry collections of 2024 by Lit Hub and Electric Literature. His work has appeared in publications including Academy of American Poets' ''Poem-a-Day'', ''American Poetry Review'', ''BOMB,'' ''Black Warrior Review'', ''jubilat'', ''Poetry Magazine'', and ''

Troubling the Line ''Troubling the Line: Trans and Genderqueer Poetry and Poetics'' a collection of poetry by transgender and genderqueer writers, edited by TC Tolbert and Trace Peterson. The collection itself contains some of the works by 55 different poets along ...

: Trans and Genderqueer Poetry and Poetics.'' He has published essays and comics poetry, in addition to poetry, and his poetry has been translated into Russian by

Dmitry Kuzmin Dmitry Vladimirovich Kuzmin (, born December 12, 1968), is a Russian poet, critic, and publisher. Biography Kuzmin was born in Moscow, son of the architect Vladimir Legoshin and the literary critic Edwarda Kuzmina; among his grandparents were t ...

. He has taught poetry and creative writing at

, 826DC, Madison Public Library,

District of Columbia Public Schools The District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) is the local public school system for Washington, D.C. It is distinct from the District of Columbia Public Charter Schools (DCPCS), which governs public charter schools in the city. Compositi ...

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in South Hadley, Massachusetts, United States. It is the oldest member of the h ...

, Wick Poetry Center,

Kalamazoo College Kalamazoo College is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Founded in 1833 by American Baptist Churches USA, Baptist ministers as the Michigan and Huron Institute, K ...

, Bread Loaf Environmental Writers' Conference, and elsewhere. Bendorf is a

transgender man A trans man or transgender man is a man who was assigned female at birth. Trans men have a male gender identity, and many trans men undergo medical and social transition to alter their appearance in a way that aligns with their gender identit ...

, and has used his work to discuss

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent and consistent with the in ...

and transition, sometimes in humorous ways. He is of German, Southern Italian, and Puerto Rican (Afro-Taíno and Spanish) ancestry. In 2020, Bendorf was awarded the Betty Berzon Emerging Writer Award from

Publishing Triangle The Publishing Triangle, founded in 1988 by Robin Hardy, is an American association of gay men and lesbians in the publishing industry. They sponsor an annual National Lesbian and Gay Book Month, and have sponsored the annual Triangle Awards prog ...

, presented to an LGBTQ writer who has shown exceptional talent and promise. Bendorf was a 2021

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

Fellow. In 2021, he joined the poetry faculty of the low-residency MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College.

Awards and honors

* 2021

Fellowship for Poetry *2020 Betty Berzon Emerging Writer Award,

*2019

Rane Arroyo Ramón Arroyo (November 15, 1954 – May 7, 2010) was an American playwright, poet and scholar of Puerto Rican descent who wrote numerous books and received many literary awards. He was a professor of English and Creative Writing at the Uni ...

Chapbook Series Prize, Seven Kitchens Press *2018 Open Book Poetry Competition,

*2017-2018 Halls Emerging Artist Fellowship at the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing * 2015 New American Poets,

Poetry Society of America Poetry (from the Greek word '' poiesis'', "making") is a form of literary art that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, literal or surface-level meanings. Any partic ...

. Selected by

Natalie Diaz Natalie Diaz (born September 4, 1978) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning Mojave American poet, language activist, former professional basketball player, and educator. She is enrolled in the Gila River Indian Community and identifies as Akimel O'odham. ...

* 2013-14 Doug Fir Fiction Award, ''

The Bear Deluxe ''The Bear Deluxe'' is a Portland, Oregon-based magazine dedicated to environmental writing, literature, and visual art. The magazine was established by Orlo, a non-profit in 1992. It is released by Orlo. The magazine is published on a biannua ...

''. Selected by

Lidia Yuknavitch Lidia Yuknavitch ( ; born June 18, 1963) is an American writer, teacher and editor based in Oregon. She is the author of the memoir '' The Chronology of Water'', and the novels ''The Small Backs of Children,'' '' Dora: A Headcase,'' and ''The Bo ...

* 2013 Stan & Tom Wick Poetry Prize, ''The Spectral Wilderness,''

, 2015. Selected by

* 2011-13 Martha Meier Renk Distinguished Graduate Fellowship in Poetry at

Works

* Book: ''Consider the Rooster''.

. 2024. * Poem: "I Just Chose My Place and Let the Circle Form Around Me".

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

. 2021. * Poem: “Impervious”.

The Cincinnati Review ''The Cincinnati Review'' is a literary magazine based in Cincinnati, Ohio, US, published by the University of Cincinnati. It was founded in 2003 and features poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction. It has been listed as one of the top 50 l ...

. 2020. * Poem: “River I Dream About”.

American Poetry Review ''The American Poetry Review'' (''APR'') is an American poetry magazine printed every other month on tabloid-sized newsprint. It was founded in 1972 by Stephen Berg and Stephen Parker in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The magazine's editor is Elizab ...

. 2020. * Poem: "Settler/Unsettled".

BOMB Magazine ''Bomb'' (stylized in all caps as ''BOMB'') is an American arts magazine edited by artists and writers, published quarterly in print and daily online. It is composed primarily of interviews between creative people working in a variety of discipli ...

. 2019. * Book: ''Advantages of Being Evergreen''.

. 2019. . * Chapbook: ''The Gospel According to X''. Seven Kitchens Press. 2019. *Book: *Zine: ''Top Surgery''. Self-published. 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bendorf, Oliver Baez 1987 births Living people Writers from Iowa City, Iowa University of Iowa alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty 21st-century American poets American transgender men American transgender writers American LGBTQ poets LGBTQ people from Iowa National Endowment for the Arts Fellows Poets from Iowa Poets from Wisconsin American people of Puerto Rican descent Kalamazoo College faculty LGBTQ Hispanic and Latino American people Transgender male writers Transgender poets Transgender academics 21st-century American LGBTQ people