Pen Award for Poetry in Translation Finalist, and Florida Book Award Bronze Medal in Poetry

21 Mar

With all the upside-down-ness of the world, I’m grateful for some gleams of light to shine in with some exciting news about “Homeland of Swarms.” In February, I learned that I won the Florida Book Award Bronze Medal in Poetry! And then, in April the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation shortlist was announced, and “Homeland of Swarms” is one of the five translations named as finalists!

I am very grateful for these recognitions because they help shine a light on the travesty that Venezuelans have been facing for the past 17 years. Oriette’s collection of poetry, originally titled, “Cardiopatías,” was written in the years leading up to 2014, when it won the Emerging Poet Prize in Venezuela, and the reality that Venezuelans faced then has not changed. Eleven years later the world has remained mostly silent while the Venezuelan situation has worsened and worsened.

Thank you to the Florida Book Awards and PEN America judges, and congratulations to the other awardees and fellow longlisted poets and translators! The PEN shortlist was announced in April, and then the winner, Mira Rosenthal, was announced at the PEN Awards Ceremony in New York.

Collage of all the book covers of all the PEN 2025 finalists.
PEN America Literary Awards 2025
Book covers of the five finalists for the 2025 PEN Award for Poetry in Translation
The five finalists.

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My translation, “Homeland of Swarms” is forthcoming from Co•im•press!

15 Nov

I’m grateful and excited to announce that my translation of Oriette D’Angelo’s debut collection, “Cardiopatías,” will be published by co•im•press! Many thanks to Steve Halle for selecting this manuscript. The title of the collection in English is “Homeland of Swarms,” which comes from one of the poems in the book (see excerpt below).

Book cover for Homeland of Swarms. White background with multimedia abstract rectangles.

This translation has been a labor of love that began in January 2018. After attending Bread Loaf Translators Conference in June 2017, I left inspired and invigorated, and charged with a mission: to find a Venezuelan poet to translate into English. I felt compelled to use my bilingual abilities to write poetry in English and Spanish to amplify underrepresented voices in South America.

For the next 6 months, I searched for a poet to translate. In January 2018 I stumbled across an interview online, and that’s how I found Oriette D’Angelo’s work. I Googled her name, came across her website, and more poems. I emailed her immediately, asking her if I could translate her collection. She replied that same day, a PDF of her book attached.

Here are two poems from the collection:

“I underline a title like I underline a country” first appeared in Nashville Review #25, Spring 2018.

Screenshot of "I underline a title like I underline a country" by Oriette D'Angelo, translated by Lupita Eyde-Tucker

“Knee on Dirt” first appeared in The Arkansas International, and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

KNEE ON DIRT

[They say that the first stage of a fall
 is resistance]

Mine was the drop
Knee buckling 
hard

Femur on dirt
tibia on dirt
self-esteem on dirt
patriotism on dirt
the ego of a country sustained by fertilizer
the visceral manure
that makes us citizens

Knee tired of climbing onto so many platforms
Knee tired of endless marching
Knee tired of endless political posturing overdue

[payday
Knee tired of endless ministries

Femur wounded from so many queues
so little milk
so little bread
of being the pastry chefs of a country locked in the pantry

Tibia, fractured, in a cast
ligature of a city held together by bridges of sulfur
bare foot standing on plantations
exercising the muscle of disobedience
bare footprint against the pavement
always begging for the crumbs of history

Knee scorched from too much touching this ground
that burns me
and on the inside
is full of nothing but crude.

There are more poems from the collection in the “Translations” section of my website, so if you’d like to read more, check those out!

Here’s the link to order the book: https://www.coimpress.com/books/homeland_of_swarms.shtml

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Andres Montoya Poetry Prize Finalist!

3 Jul

I’ve been holding on to this news for a few months. On May 11th, 2022 I learned that my poetry manuscript, “Eucalyptus,” was shortlisted for the Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize from Letras Latinas. What a beautiful honor to be read and seen in this way. The preliminary judges for this contest were Ariel Francisco and Adela Najarro, who selected 15 manuscripts as finalists to be judged by the final judges, Alexandra Lytton Regalado and Sheila Maldonado.

This news greatly encouraged me, and while today I learned that “Eucalyptus” was not chosen as the winner, it’s helpful to know that this work is finding its way in the world. I will keep pushing!!

I’m happy to share the wonderful news that Jordan Pérez was selected as the winner for her manuscript, “Santa Tarantula!” I can’t wait to read it! Here is a screenshot of what one of the final judges had to say about Pérez’ work:

Congratulation to Jordan, to Aerik Francis and Alonso Llerena who received Honorable Mentions, and to all of my fellow finalists. I look forward to seeing all of your work out in the world soon.

You can read more about Jordan Pérez’ forthcoming book, Aerik Francis, and Alonso Llerena, and about the prize by visiting this link to the Letras Latinas blog: http://letraslatinasblog.blogspot.com/2022/07/andres-montoya-poetry-prize-winner.html

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In the Classroom with O, Miami

20 Dec

O, Miami is such a blessing in my life.

O, Miami is proof that poetry can change lives. This 2021 year-in-review chapbook of student highlights is proof — it contains poems written by elementary school students in Miami. Some of those students were my students last Spring! Teaching poetry, in person and online, to 4th and 5th graders in English and Spanish is a constant source of joy for me. It stretches me and helps me grow as an educator, as a poet, as a person.

Look for Jacob, Amaranta, and Santiago’s poems in this chapbook – their poems were written in my class! Two of the poems were from a prompt inspired by Microgramas by Ecuadorian poet Jorge Luis Andrade ❤

If you believe in good work being done in the world, work that impacts an entire community like Miami – then please consider donating to O, Miami. My students love to write and learn about poetry every week. They are direct recipients of your dollars turning into poems in their minds and hearts. This year I’m teaching poetry in Spanish to 4th-grade students at Morningside K-8 Academy, teaming up again with Ms. Alvarez, their Spanish teacher. Other poets are teaching poetry in English and Creole at Morningside and other schools. It’s a wonderful team and I’m honored to get to do this with them.

You can read all the students’ work and all about O, Miami’s work in classrooms around Miami-Dade here: O, Miami in the Classroom

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On Motherhood and Being an Artist

31 May
Portrait of my five children standing against a fence wearing their favorite outfits and holding their favorite things.

Two wonderful poets, friends of mine, recently became mothers. In the past week both confessed on FB that they had not written in at least a year or more! That made me think a lot about motherhood, and being a woman, an artist, and how our art is affected by our roles as females and mothers.

When I became a mother I also stopped writing. It wasn’t by choice, and I had the craving to write, but for some reason I couldn’t bring myself to the page. This was in the age before Facebook (1999), so I didn’t even have a chance to write self-gratifying observational blurbs to the world like we can today. I kept a sporadic journal, but it was a surface recording of events, nothing deep. I feel so guilty sometimes for not writing creatively then, but at the same time, I give myself a pass because so much energy was put into other creative ends— albeit “non artistic.” Also, I didn’t consider myself an artist back then either, like I do now.

In 2013 I hit a wall and I no longer had the luxury NOT to write. I had to write for my own sanity. I waited 14 YEARS to write poems again. I finally had some distance between whatever was impeding my creativity, and me. When I say distance, it wasn’t more than a pinky-width, but I finally had more than just a craving to write again. Writing was the thing that brought me back to myself. 2012 & 2013 were traumatic for our family, but I rediscovered poetry, and I feel that was God’s way of lighting a path for me out of that mess.

Thinking back, though, one of my biggest regrets is that I dropped the pen for so long. I extend grace to myself, for sure, and I don’t lose sleep over this, but it jabs me every now and then. How about you, artist friends? How has motherhood/marriage or otherwise impacted your creative life. ❤

Pushcart Prize Nomination for “Knee on Dirt”

8 Feb

It’s very encouraging to be nominated for a Pushcart, but it’s a double blessing when it’s a nomination of a translation. I got word on Saturday that The Arkansas International nominated my translation of “Knee on Dirt” by Oriette D’Angelo for a Pushcart Prize. I didn’t even know that translations could be nominated, so this was a wonderful surprise for me.

My passion for translating comes from the desire to bring more exposure to important poetic voices from South America. Oriette D’Angelo is one of those essential, important voices! This Pushcart nomination provides the opportunity to shed more light on Oriette D’Angelo’s work, and for that I am incredibly grateful.

The poem “Knee on Dirt” comes from Oriette’s collection “Cardiopatías,” which I’ve translated and am in the process of finding a publisher. It derives it’s title from the directive in Spanish, “Rodilla en Tierra” which is what Chavez coerced the Venezuelans to do to show subjugation to his regime, equating submission with patriotism. Bringing the poem across from Spanish into English adds other timely dimensions to the speaker’s words and symbols.

Here’s a link to “Knee on Dirt” from The Arkansas International’s website: https://www.arkint.org/oriette-dangelo

Thank you, Arkansas International, for giving this poem a place to live, and for this meaningful honor. I’m delighted and eternally grateful.

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2021 Chad Walsh Chapbook Prize Runner-Up

6 Feb

Beloit Poetry Journal shared the winner of the Chad Walsh Chapbook Prize Winner today, and it’s Katie Farris!! I was so excited to hear this wonderful news and I can’t wait to read Katie’s chapbook.

I’m grateful to have been considered in the final shortlist of chapbooks. And, congratulations on the other runners-up, finalists, and semi-finalists. It’s exciting to see some names of friends and acquaintances in that list!

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Finalist x 3: Sewanee, Georgia Review, Naugatuck Review

11 Nov

It’s been a busy couple of months! In September and October I had some super encouraging news. First, my poem “Guaranda” was chosen as a finalist for Georgia Review’s Loraine Williams Prize. Here is Judge Ilya Kaminsky’s citation:

GUARANDA by Lupita Eyde-Tucker, “This poem gives a generous sense of history, of belonging, of crossing across boundaries of both time and place, with a sack cloth and ashes omein and omein, counting Sabbaths.”


Although “Guaranda” was not published by Georgia Review, it was chosen to be published in [PANK]s Jewish Diaspora Folio, so you can read that poem online here: https://pankmagazine.com/piece/guaranda/

A few weeks later I got another encouraging email, this time from the wonderful editors at Sewanee Review. One of my poems was a finalist in their 2020 Poetry Contest! I love Sewanee Review, and they were so kind with their feedback. Even though none of the finalists’ work was published, just knowing that they liked my poem that much means a lot to me.

Then, last week I got yet another encouraging email, this time from Naugatuck River Review. One of my poems was selected as a finalist for their annual narrative poetry contest, and will be published in the winter issue! I love the Naugatuck River Review, they published my very first poem back in 2017, so it’s wonderful to be included in their pages again!

I can’t wait to read all of the winning poems, congrats to all!

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“Ode to the Quinceañera Dress” finalist in River Heron Poetry Prize

4 Aug

So happy to share my poem “Ode to the Quinceañera Dress,” which appears as a finalist in the 2020 River Heron Poetry Prize issue this month. Heartfelt thanks to final judge, Alina Stefanescu, for choosing this poem among the top five out of 500 entries!

Thank you to Gregory Pardlo and my workshop-mates at the 2019 Palm Beach Poetry Festival for “prescribing” this poem, and Rosebud Ben-Oni‘s Poetic Forms class @UCLA Extension for creating a positive space for it to come forth into the world!

This poem is an homage to many things, beyond the quinceañera dress itself. It’s a shout out to my high school friends, to late 1980’s pop music, and my Abuelita and her gift of sewing. My grandmother could make anything out of fabric, so ultimately it didn’t boil down to the dress itself. I could even have made a Pretty-in-Pink inspired frock, but ultimately the pageantry still would have felt off to me. I loved dresses and wanted a gown worthy of Cinderella, but I couldn’t give myself over to the rest of it.

My whole entire life I have been a non-conformist, and this poem is a witness to that. I will never conform to what people want me to think or believe or wear, and I will always make my own choices and my own decisions based on what I feel is true and right.

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“Self Portrait con Valencia” on Women’s Voices for Change

31 Jul

A wonderful thing happened to me this week! Outstanding poet and writer, Amanda Moore, spent some time with my poem, “Self Portrait con Valencia” and wrote an essay about it for Women’s Voices for Change.

You can read the poem and the essay here: Self Portrait con Valencia_ by Lupita Eyde-Tucker _ Women’s Voices For Change

I’m honored and grateful and excited to share her words and insight into this poem, which is a time-travel back to when I was 14 and learning the nomenclature of chemistry. I am so grateful to Women’s Voices for Change for publishing it, I feel so seen.

With gratitude to Rosebud Ben-Oni for the impetus to write this, and to Dr. Oswaldo Holguín, renown chemistry teacher at Colegio Americano de Guayaquil. Look at what you taught me, Doctor.

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