Born in Manila and raised in the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, Sasha Pimentel is the author of For Want of Water, selected by Gregory Pardlo as winner of the National Poetry Series and longlisted for the PEN/Open Book Award, and Insides She Swallowed, winner of the American Book Award. She has published poems and essays in The New York Times Magazine, PBS NewsHour, ESPN, The American Poetry Review, New England Review, and Literary Hub, and other literary publications. She has been a Picador Guest Professor for Literature at Universität Leipzig in Germany, an NEA fellow, and March 2021's guest editor for Poem-A-Day for the Academy of American Poets. She teaches poetry and creative nonfiction in the bilingual (Spanish-English) Department of Creative Writing at the University of Texas at El Paso, on the border of Ciudad Juárez, México.
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Finalist, Poet Laureate of the State of Texas (competition ongoing) - Texas Commission on the Arts (01/01/2025-12/31/2025)
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Poet Laureate of the State of Texas (finalist, competition ongoing) - Texas Commission on the Arts (01/01/2024-12/31/2024)
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Winner of the Editors' Prize for Best Feature Article for "To Cross the Distance," published in Poetry Magazine - Poetry Foundation (01/01/2022-12/31/2022)
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2022 Winner of Poetry Foundation's Feature Article in POETRY Magazine ($1,000) - Poetry Foundation (10/01/2022-10/31/2022)
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2019 Faculty College Marshal - College of Liberal Arts, The University of Texas at El Paso (01/01/2019-12/31/2019)
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2019-2021 NEA Literature Fellowship in Creative Writing, Poetry ($25,000) - National Endowment for the Arts (01/01/2019-12/31/2019)
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2018 Finalist, Writers' League of Texas - Writers' League of Texas, (01/01/2018-12/31/2018)
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2018 Semifinalist, PEN/Open Book Award for an exceptional book-length work of any genre by an author of color for For Want of Water: and other poems - PEN America (01/01/2018-12/31/2018)
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2018 Winner of the Helen C. Smith Memorial Award for Best Book of Poetry for For Want of Water: and other poems - Texas Institute of Letters (01/01/2018-12/31/2018)
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2018-9 Picador Guest Professorship for Literature - Universität Leipzig, Institut für Amerikanistik, Picador Publishing (Holtzbrink/Macmillan), Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (German Academic Exchange) and Veranstaltungsforum of Holtzbrinck Publishing Group (01/01/2018-12/31/2018)
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2017 Nomination, Pushcart Prize - Hyphen Magazine (01/01/2017-12/31/2017)
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2016 Finalist, Crab Orchard Review’s and Southern Illinois University’s Open Book Competition (01/01/2016-12/31/2016)
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2016 Nomination, Pushcart Prize - The Normal School (01/01/2016-12/31/2016)
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2016 Winner of the National Poetry Series Open Competition for For Want of Water: and other poems (poetry monograph) - National Poetry Series (01/01/2016-12/31/2016)
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2015 City of El Paso Star of the Mountain Award - City of El Paso, Texas (01/01/2015-12/31/2015)
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2015 Finalist, The Rome Prize - American Academy of Arts and Letters (01/01/2015-12/31/2015)
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2015 The University of Texas System’s Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award - Board of Regents of the University of Texas system (01/01/2015-12/31/2015)
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2013 Nomination, Pushcart Prize - Vandal Magazine (01/01/2013-12/31/2013)
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2011 Winner of The American Book Award for Insides She Swallowed (poetry monograph) - Before Columbus Foundation (01/01/2011-12/31/2011)
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2008 Semifinalist, Crab Orchard Review and Southern Illinois University’s Poetry First Book Competition for “Insides She Swallowed” (poetry manuscript) - Crab Orchard Review and Southern Illinois University (01/01/2008-12/31/2008)
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2007 MELUS (Society for the Study of Multi-Ethnic Literature in the U.S.) Honoraria - MELUS (Society for the Study of Multi-Ethnic Literature in the U.S.) (01/01/2007-12/31/2007)
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2007 Nomination, Pushcart Prize - Colorado Review (01/01/2007-12/31/2007)
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2007 Nomination, Pushcart Prize - Dos Passos Review (01/01/2007-12/31/2007)
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2006 Ernesto Trejo Poetry Award - Academy of American Poets and California State University, Fresno (01/01/2006-12/31/2006)
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2006 Finalist, Black River Chapbook Competition, Black Lawrence Press, for “Blood, Sister” - Black Lawrence Press (01/01/2006-12/31/2006)
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2005 Philip Levine Fellowship - California State University, Fresno (01/01/2005-12/31/2005)
