Born in southern New Mexico, Benjamin Saenz’s first trip to El Paso with his grandfather—just to see the alligators in San Jacinto Plaza—ignited a lifelong love for the city. Though his father hailed from Fort Davis, TX, it was the Davis Mountains, where he spent countless summers exploring with his great uncle, that truly captured his heart.

Over thirty years ago, Saenz chose El Paso as his home, but it never felt like just a choice—it was destiny. After leaving the Catholic priesthood, he waited tables in Houston, scraping together every cent to chase his dream of writing. He earned a master’s in creative writing at the University of Texas at El Paso, then won a fellowship at the University of Iowa, but left after a year for a coveted two-year Stegner Fellowship in poetry at Stanford University. Under Denise Levertov, he crafted his first book of poems, a debut that would go on to win an American Book Award. He returned to UTEP, where he taught for twenty-three years, and spent his life there pouring his love for the borderlands into writing that began to capture national attention.

In 1991, Saenz was awarded the Lannan Poetry Fellowship, but his creative fire was far from limited to poetry. He boldly ventured into fiction and children's literature, with two of his four children’s books snagging TIL awards. His novels Carry Me Like Water and He Forgot to Say Goodbye not only captivated readers but also earned the prestigious Southwest Book Awards. The latter also went on to win the Tomas Rivera Book Award.

In 2013, Saenz made history as the first Latino and Texan to win the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction with his electrifying short story collection Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club. His young adult novel Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe didn’t just win awards—it swept up twenty-eight accolades at regional, national, and international levels. Along the way, he picked up two Lambda Literary Awards, the Catalonian Booksellers Award, the Pura Belpré Award, the Stonewall Award, and a Printz Honor Book Award.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe has become an international sensation, translated into twenty-four languages. The book's characters, Aristotle and Dante, became beloved cult figures, adored by readers, librarians, and educators alike. Despite its success, the novel also faced bans in school libraries across the U.S., a testament to its powerful impact. A decade after its debut, it landed on the New York Times Bestseller List. The sequel, Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World, published at the end of 2021, dominated the New York Times Bestseller list for eleven weeks. The first book’s magic even made it to the big screen, with the movie premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival. Both books became wildly popular audiobooks, narrated by none other than Lin-Manuel Miranda, the mastermind behind Hamilton.

Saenz’s creative journey has been nothing short of extraordinary. He has published six poetry collections, five young adult novels, two short story collections, four bilingual children’s books, and four novels. His literary achievements have earned him the Texas Book Award for lifetime contribution to literature and the Texas Institute of Letters Tim Tingle Lifetime Achievement Award. Today, he’s not just an acclaimed writer—he’s a literary icon, and one of a select number of authors who have been made honorary members of Sigma Tau Delta.