Virgil Suárez
| Virgil Suárez | |
|---|---|
| Born | Virgilio Suárez 1962 (age 54–55) Havana, Cuba |
| Occupation | poet, novelist |
| Nationality | United States |
| Notable works | Banyan, Going Under, Spared Angola |
| Notable awards | Book Expo America/Latino Literature Hall of Fame Poetry Prize; G. MacCarthur Poetry Prize |
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Virgil Suárez (born 1962, Havana, Cuba) is a poet and novelist. He is a professor of English at Florida State University. He is one of the leading writers in the Cuban American community, known for his novels including Latin Jazz and Going Under. He has also reviewed books for The Los Angeles Times, The Miami Herald, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Tallahassee Democrat.
He spent four years in Spain, 1970-1974. He moved to the U.S. in 1974. He went to high school in Los Angeles, California. He received a BA from California State University, Long Beach. He received an MFA from Louisiana State University (1987) while studying under Vance Bourjaily. He studied under Sir Angus Wilson and Robert Houston for a year at the University of Arizona.
Suárez's first novel, Latin Jazz was described by Newsday as "a striking debut. A well crafted and sensitive novel. An engrossing, honest book by a writer who cares deeply about preserving ties within the family unit and, by extension, within the Hispanic community and America. Suarez is marvelous." His novel The Cutter was described by Publishers Weekly as a "powerful novel about one individual's response to the abuses and arbitrariness of totalitarianism [that] shows us how ordinary people can be driven to take extraordinary risks." His collection of stories, Welcome to the Oasis, was described by Kirkus Reviews as "A tightly controlled but affecting exploration of fundamental tensions" in the Cuban exile/Marielita community. New York Public Library named the collection as one of the top books for the Teen Age.
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