Brandon Som | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Som at AWP 2025 | |
| Born | (1975-08-13)August 13, 1975 (age 50) Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. |
| Education | |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Awards | Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (2024) |
Brandon Som (born August 13, 1975)[1] is an American poet. His collections includeThe Tribute Horse (2014) andTripas: Poems (2023), which won thePulitzer Prize for Poetry in 2024. He is an associate professor of literature and creative writing at theUniversity of California, San Diego.[2]
Som was born and raised inPhoenix, Arizona.[1] He is ofMexican andChinese descent.[3]
He received hisBachelor of Arts atArizona State University,[4]Master of Fine Arts at theUniversity of Pittsburgh in 2002,[5][4] andPhD at theUniversity of Southern California in 2014.[4][6] From 2013 to 2014, Som was a dissertation fellow at the Center for Transpacific Studies atUSC Dornsife.[7]
Som'schapbook of poetry,Babel's Moon, was published in 2011.[4][8] His first complete collection of poems,The Tribute Horse, was published in 2014,[9][10] winning theKate Tufts Discovery Award in 2015.[11]
Som's next collection,Tripas: Poems, was published by theUniversity of Georgia Press in 2023.[12] It was a finalist for theNational Book Award for Poetry and won thePulitzer Prize.[13][14] The Pulitzer credit said the book "deeply engages with the complexities of the poet's dual Mexican and Chinese heritage, highlighting the dignity of his family's working lives, creating community rather than conflict".[14]