The 15 Bytes Book Award, which has been recognizing literary excellence since 2013, honors Rio Cortez’s Golden Ax, published by Penguin Poets, with its 2023 award in poetry. With her debut poetry collection, Cortez offers a window into the complexities of the Black experience in the American West.
“Golden Ax is a profound and complex exploration of identity, history, temporality, and the power of reimagining and subverting established narratives,” write the jurors of this year’s prize. “In the wake of her personal history and the broader narrative of Black pioneerism in Utah, Cortez has crafted a body of work that navigates through her own upbringing in the state. Each poem in Golden Ax serves as an act of excavation, bringing to light narratives that have gone unheard, including Cortez’s family history interlaced with the broader history of the Latter-day Saints and Black Americans’ quest for identity and belonging in the American West. Evident in her verse is the historic tension between her beautiful yet singular Black experience in Salt Lake City and the complexities of race woven into the state’s fabric. Her poems masterfully employ language and imagery that reflect both the legacy of her ancestors and the surreal landscapes of Utah.”
Cortez grew up in Salt Lake City, where she was often the only Black student in her classes. She is the recipient of the Lucy Grealy Prize in Poetry, a Jerome Foundation grant, and fellowships from prestigious institutions like Poets House, Cave Canem, and Canto Mundo. She now lives in New York City and holds an MFA from New York University.
The 15 Bytes Book Awards is presented annually by Artists of Utah, a nonprofit organization and publisher of 15 Bytes: Utah’s Art Magazine. The awards recognize excellence in publishing in fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction and art books.
UTAH’S ART MAGAZINE SINCE 2001, 15 Bytes is published by Artists of Utah, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Categories: Book Awards | Literary Arts
