Alumnus and writer receives big nomination
By Priscilla Castro
The Collegian
Former Fresno State graduate Blas Manuel De Luna received a nomination from the National Book Critics Circle Award for poetry pieces published in 2005.
English Professor Steve Yarbrough said the National Book Critics Circle Award is “one of the handful of the most important awards that a poet could win in this country.”
De Luna is nominated for his book entitled “Bent to Earth.” He is currently an English teacher at Firebaugh High School.
Other nominees and titles De Luna are up against are Ron Slate, “The Incentive of the Maggot,” Richard Siken, “Crush,” Jack Gilbert, “Refusing Heaven,” and Simon Armitage, “The Shout.”
“He (De Luna) has moved into a very, very elite group of poets and we couldn’t be more proud of him,” Yarbrough said. The National Book Critics Circle was founded in 1974. They are the top organization for book critics and book review editors.
Whether De Luna wins the award or not, he has made quite an accomplishment. “It’s great to have an ex student who has achieved something at that level,” Yarbrough said.
De Luna received his bachelors at Fresno State in 1993 in English. Two years later De Luna received his masters in creative writing also at Fresno State. De Luna was born in Tijuana, Mexico but was raised in Madera.
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