Acevedo was born to Dominican immigrants and raised in New York. She grew up in the predominantly Dominican, Puerto Rican, and religiously catholic neighborhood of Morningside Heights. She is the youngest child and only daughter. By the age of 12, Elizabeth decided she wanted to be a rapper, but then quickly realized what she really wanted to do was perform poetry. She then attended the Beacon School, where she met English teacher Abby Lublin. Here, Lublin recruited Acevedo to join her after school poetry club to further improve her work. At the age of 14, she competed on her first poetry slam at the Nuyorican Poets Café, and then participated in open mics around the city, in such as venues Bowery Poetry Club and Urban Word NYC. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Performing Arts at George Washington University by designing her own degree using courses in performing arts, English, and Sociology. She then earned a M.F.A. in Creative Writing at the University of Maryland and served as an adjunct professor for bachelor level creative writing courses. Elizabeth Acevedo was teaching eighth grade in Prince George's County when she was coaxing a specific student to read more, and when she asked her students as to why they weren't reading, the response she got was, "These books aren't about us.’’ Acevedo realized her students were affected by the lack of diversity in their books and not her capabilities. Acevedo was influenced to buy books that her students could relate to, when she realized that she had the power to write such books too.
Personal life
Acevedo identifies as Afro-Latina. Although raised Catholic, she no longer practices the religion. Currently, she lives in Washington, D.C. with her partner. Acevedo grew up in a conservative and devout household of Catholicism. She went to church every Sunday with her mother and participated in every sacrament. Acevedo doesn't practice her religion anymore, though she still considers her relationship with her religion to be developing. She questions the teaching of religion because she says her book The Fire On High is influenced by the fact that religion is empowering but "sometimes makes women and young girls question their selves".
Career
Following graduation from George Washington University, Acevedo went into the classroom as a 2010 Teach for America Corps participant. She continued on to teach eighth grade English in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Although the population of the town was 78% Latinx and 20% Black, she was the first Latinx teacher to teach a core subject. She is a previous National Slam Champion, as well as former head coach for the D.C. Youth Slam Team. She has performed at Lincoln Center, Madison Square Garden, the Kennedy Center of the Performing Arts, South Africa’s State Theatre, Bozar in Brussels, and the National Library of Kosovo. She has also delivered several TED Talks, and her masterful poetry videos have been featured in Latina Magazine, Cosmopolitan,the Huffington Post, and Upworthy. She is also the author of three young adult novels. Beastgirl and Other Origin Myths was published in 2016 and was a finalist for YesYes Chapbook Prize. The Poet X is a New York Times Bestseller. The novel also won the 2018 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, the Walter Dean Myers Awards for Outstanding Children’s Literature in the Teen category, the Michael L. Printz Award, and the 2018 National Book Award for Young People's Literature. It was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize. The book highlights the struggles of growing up as a Latinx girl dealing with her sexuality and religion, and finding her own voice. With the Fire on High is Acevedo's third novel, released in May 2019. Her fourth, Clap When You Land, has been accepted for publication. It is about two sisters who grow up unaware of each other while living in different countries but who learn of each other after their father dies. Acevedo is both a CantoMundo fellow and Cave Canem fellow. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming from Poetry, Puerto Del Sol, Callaloo, and The Notre Dame Review, among others. She also works as a visiting instructor at an adjudicated youth center in Washington, DC, where she works with incarcerated women and with teenagers.
Critical response
Kirkus Reviews describes Poet X as “Poignant and real; beautiful & intense.” Cleyvis Natera's review of Poet X for Aster Journal relates to the main character, Xiomara. Natera writes that Poet X is relatable to teenage girls dealing with their first love and strict parents that just don't understand, and who are finding themselves or growing into the person that they’re meant to be. She urges its readers to buy the book.
As writer
Young adult novels
Beastgirl and Other Origin Myths ,
The Poet X ,
With the Fire on High ,
Clap When You Land
In anthologies
Beastgirl and Other Origin Myths
Because I Was A Girl: True Stories for Girls of All Ages
