Ada Limón

Poet

• Born: March 28, 1976
• Place of Birth: Sonoma, California

Education: University of Washington; New York University

Significance: Ada Limón is an American poet known for such works as her 2015 book Bright Dead Things. In 2022, Limón became the twenty-fourth poet laureate of the United States.

Background

Ada Limón was born in 1976 in Sonoma, California. Her mother is Stacia Brady, a visual artist who later contributed to Limón’s work as an illustrator for her book covers. Brady also managed a large horse ranch in California, so Limón grew up with horses, which became a common motif in her poetry.

Limón attended the University of Washington for her undergraduate degree, studying theater at the School of Drama. In 2001 she earned a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) from New York University.

After completing her MFA, Limón lived in New York for several years before relocating to Lexington, Kentucky. Limón splits her time between New York, Sonoma, and Lexington. She has worked as an educator and freelance writer in addition to her poetry work, serving as a faculty member at Queens University of Charlotte’s low-residency MFA program and for the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center’s online education program.

Limón has also taught undergraduate and graduate courses at New York University and Columbia University, as well as the New Harmony Writer’s Workshop at the University of Southern Indiana.

While living in New York, Limón worked at a travel magazine as a creative director and as an events manager for entrepreneur and artist Martha Stewart. Limón was attending an event at Martha Stewart’s home when she learned that her first poetry book would be published.

Poet

As a poet, Limón writes with a personal, often autobiographical voice. She cites American poet Philip Levine, with whom she studied at New York University, as an influence on her work, in addition to Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, whom she says influenced her willingness to write love poems.

Limón’s work has earned her several prominent grants and awards. She was selected as a fellow at the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center in 2001. Additionally, she received grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts and won the Chicago Literary Award for Poetry.

Limón published her first poetry book, Lucky Wreck, in 2006. The collection won the 2005 Autumn House Poetry Prize. Nine months later, in 2007, she released her second collection, This Big Fake World.

In 2010 Limón published her third collection, Sharks in the Rivers. Much like her previous works, the book’s titular poem explores her personal fears. Limón joked in a 2011 interview that she always writes about the same topics, having published three books of poems centered on themes including love, fear, joy, and death.

Limón was selected to judge the National Book Award for Poetry in 2013. Two years later, her fourth and most successful book of poems, Bright Dead Things, was itself a finalist for the award but ultimately lost to Voyage of the Sable Venus by Robin Coste Lewis.

Bright Dead Things collects a series of Limón’s autobiographical poems that examine her emotional response to events in her life, including the loss of her stepmother, Cynthia, and her relationship with places she has lived, including New York and Kentucky. The book’s poems are the result of Limón’s efforts to be as honest and bare as possible, she said in a 2015 interview.

In 2018, Límon released The Carrying, her fourth collection of poetry. The volume won the 2018 National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry and was a finalist for the 2019 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award. In 2022, Límon released two poetry collections, The Hurting Kind and Shelter: A Love Letter to Trees. In July of that year, Límon was appointed the twenty-fourth Poet Laureate of the United States. Her term was renewed for two additional years in 2023.

In addition to her poetry, Limón has written several unpublished works of fiction, including a young adult novel. As a freelance writer, Limón has contributed to publications, including Martha Stewart Living and GQ.

Impact

Limón’s poems have been featured in the New York Times, the New Yorker, and the Harvard Review. Her writing has received positive reviews from critics. As poet laureate, Limón created the project “You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World,” which, in a partnership with the National Park Service, saw the creation of public art installations in national parks throughout the United States. The year 2024 saw Limón serve as editor of a collection of poems of the same name.

Personal Life

Limón divides her time between New York, Kentucky, and California with her partner, a horse racing reporter. Limón has said that while she is of Mexican descent, she does not speak fluent Spanish and often feels strange at events where she represents Latina poets.

Limón has suffered from vertigo, a topic she has addressed on her personal blog. Limón said that while she often writes about her fears, her only true fear is running out of time to write.

Bibliography

“About Ada Limón.” Ada Limón, 2022, www.adalimon.net/about. Accessed 2 Apr. 2023.

“About Ada Limón.” Academy of American Poets, poets.org/poet/ada-limon. Accessed 2 Apr. 2023.

“Bright Dead Things, by Ada Limón, 2015 National Book Award Finalist, Poetry.” National Book Award. Natl. Book Award, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.

Limón, Ada. “In Spite of It All, We Are Still Here Living.” Interview by Kaveh Akbar. Divedapper. Divedapper, 18 May 2015. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.

Limón, Ada. “Poet Ada Limon Talks Art, Quiet, and Sharks.” Interview. Daily Fig. Figment, 12 July 2011. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.

Limón, Ada. “The Rumpus Poetry Book Club Chat with Ada Limón.” Interview by Brian Spears. Rumpus. Rumpus, 15 Sept. 2015. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.

Limón, Ada. “Starting with A: On Art & Anxiety.” Ada Limón. Author, 3 Sept. 2015. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.

"You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World." Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/programs/poetry-and-literature/poet-laureate/poet-laureate-projects/you-are-here/. Accessed 21 June 2024.