Elizabeth Acevedo is a Dominican-American poet and author. In September 2022, the Poetry Foundation named her the year's Young People’s Poet Laureate. Acevedo is the author of the young adult novels The Poet X, With the Fire on High, and Clap When You Land. The Poet X is a New York Times Bestseller, National Book Award Winner, and Carnegie Medal winner. She is also the winner of the 2019 Michael L. Printz Award, the 2018 Pura Belpre Award, and the Boston-Globe Hornbook Award Prize for Best Children’s Fiction of 2018. She lives in Washington, DC. Early life and education Acevedo was born of Dominican immigrants and raised in Harlem, New York. She is the youngest child and only daughter. By the age of 12, Acevedo decided she wanted to be a rapper, but then realized what she really wanted to do was perform poetry. She then attended the Beacon School, where she met English teacher Abby Lublin. Lublin recruited Acevedo to join her after-school poetry club to further improve her work. At the age of 14, Acevedo competed in her first poetry slam at the Nuyorican Poets Café, and then participated in open mics around the city, in venues including Bowery Poetry Club and Urban Word NYC. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Performing Arts at George Washington University by designing her own degree using courses in performing arts, English, and Sociology. She then earned an M.F.A. in Creative Writing at the University of Maryland and served as an adjunct professor for bachelor level creative writing courses. Acevedo taught eighth grade in Prince George's County, Maryland. While coaxing a student to read more, the student said she wasn't reading because "These books aren't about us.’’ Acevedo realized her students were affected by the lack of diversity in their books and not by their capabilities. She then bought books that her students could relate to, and realized that she had the power to write such books too. Career Following graduation from George Washington University, Acevedo went into the classroom as a 2010 Teach for America Corps participant. She continued on to teach eighth grade English in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Although the school's population was 78 percent Latino and 20 percent black, she was the first Latino teacher to teach a core subject. She is a previous National Slam Champion, as well as former head coach for the D.C. Youth