Jasminne Mendez

Jasminne Mendez is a Dominican-American poet, playwright, translator and award winning author of several books for children and adults. She is the author of Island of Dreams (Floricanto Press), Night-Blooming Jasmin(n)e: Personal Essays and Poetry, Islands Apart: Becoming Dominican American, and Josefina’s Habichuelas (Arte Público Press). Her poetry collection City Without Altar received the 2023 Texas Institute of Letters Best Book of Poetry. Jasminne’s debut middle grade, Aniana del Mar Jumps In (Dial/Penguin, March 2023), is a novel in verse about a young girl diagnosed with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, and has already received four STARRED REVIEWS! Spanish edition Aniana del Mar se avienta will be available November 2023.

Mendez is also a translator and has translated Amanda Gorman’s picture books Change Sings and Something, Someday into the Spanish editions La canción del cambio and Algo, algún día. She has had poetry and essays in numerous journals and anthologies including The Kenyon Review, New England Review, the YA Latinx Anthology Wild Tongues Can’t be Tamed edited by Saraciea Fennell (Flatiron/Macmillan), and in The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 4: LatiNext (Haymarket Books). Based in Houston, Jasminne is co-founder of the Latinx literary arts organization Tintero Projects and co-host of Inkwell, a poetry and writing podcast series. She is an MFA graduate in creative writing  at the Rainier Writing Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University, a University of Houston alumni, and a Canto Mundo Fellow. Photo Credit: Tasha Gorel.

Visit Jasminne online www.jasminnemendez.com or visit her on Instagram/Twitter @jasminnemendez

Praise for Aniana del Mar Jumps In:

“Incorporating concrete poems, haiku, and tanka, Ani’s aching, determined verse narration weaves English and Spanish words into striking imagery…A painful yet hopeful exploration of family, trauma, faith, and healing.”—Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW 

“Via myriad poetic forms and sensorial verse, Mendez viscerally details the emotional family tumult of grief, mistrust, and resentment alongside Ani’s heartfelt quest to reunite with water.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW

 “The nuanced depiction of disability, intergenerational conflict, and family trauma make this a must-have for all middle grade shelves.” – School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW

 “Mendez’s novel beautifully crafts a first-person narrative with concrete poetry, forming shapes of teardrops, sea creatures, and storms to capture the physical and emotional journey of Aniana’s desire to return to the water and navigate her newly diagnosed disability.” – BCCB, STARRED REVIEW

 “Aniana del Mar Jumps In is a story of love, loss, and growth that explores how our actions can unintentionally harm those who we love, how we learn to heal from that pain, and how we grieve not only those who we’ve lost but the people we once were, as well as embracing who we are becoming.”—Booklist

 “Jasminne Mendez uses multiple poetic forms and deft lyricism to explore the knotty intaglios of family and community, guiding readers through multiple emotional storms to a rousing, heart-warming conclusion.”—David Bowles, award-winning author of They Call Me Güero 

“Reading this made me feel like I have been holding my breath without knowing it. This book made me exhale. Similarly, I know that so many young people will see themselves in this book, exhale and say FINALLY. Such an important book.”—Elisabet Velasquez, award-winning author of When We Make It

“Beautiful in its honesty and vulnerability, this is a powerful story about dreams and bodily agency that sings from the heart.”—Natalia Sylvester, award-winning author of Breathe and Count Back From Ten