受人尊敬的作家本杰明·艾莱尔·萨恩兹(Benjamin Alire Sáenz)于上周在得克萨斯州埃尔帕索去世，享年71岁[1]。他是首位获得PEN/Faulkner奖的拉丁裔作家，2013年因小说《Everything Begins & Ends at the Kentucky Club》获得该荣誉[1]。萨恩兹以笔触细腻地描绘美墨边境生活和同性恋题材见长，其2012年出版的代表作《亚里士多德和但丁发现宇宙的秘密》先后斩获斯通沃尔荣誉图书奖和兰姆达文学奖[1]。
这部小说在美国部分地区引发争议——曾在得克萨斯州格兰伯里学区被临时下架[1]，并在俄罗斯和白俄罗斯遭禁[1]。该作在2023年被改编为电影版本，由林-曼努埃尔·米兰达参与配音和制作[1]。
萨恩兹在教育领域贡献卓著，从1990年代起在得克萨斯大学埃尔帕索分校任教数十年，至2016年退休[1]。他的遗作《When the World Was Happy》将由西蒙舒斯特出版社在下月推出[1]。
Benjamin Alire Sáenz, the groundbreaking author and first Latino recipient of the PEN/Faulkner Award, passed away last week in El Paso, Texas, at age 71 [1]. Sáenz earned the prestigious literary honor in 2013 for his novel Everything Begins & Ends at the Kentucky Club [1], cementing his place among the most distinguished voices in contemporary American fiction.
Throughout his career, Sáenz established himself as a vital chronicler of border life and LGBTQ+ narratives. His 2012 novel Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe achieved significant recognition, receiving both the Stonewall Honor Book Award and the Lambda Literary Award [1]. The work's impact extended internationally and through cultural adaptation: it was temporarily removed from the Granbury Independent School District in Texas and banned in Russia and Belarus [1], while a 2023 film adaptation was narrated and produced by Lin-Manuel Miranda [1].
For decades, Sáenz shaped literary education as a longtime faculty member at the University of Texas at El Paso, beginning in the 1990s before retiring in 2016 [1]. Simon & Schuster is set to publish his forthcoming work When the World Was Happy next month [1].