Rio Cortez is a New York Times best-selling author of both adult and children’s literature. She is a graduate of the MFA program at New York University, and a Pushcart-nominated poet who has received fellowships from Poet's House, Cave Canem, and Canto Mundo Foundations. Rio has been the recipient of the Sarah Lawrence College Lucy Grealy Prize in Poetry, a Poets & Writers Amy Award, and a Jerome Foundation grant. Descended from a Black Utah pioneering family, the Howells, Rio was born and raised in Salt Lake City. She now lives, writes, and works in Harlem.
Work
Bibliography
The ABCs of Black History (Workman, 2020) — Picture Book
Golden Ax (Penguin, 2022) — Poetry
The River Is My Sea (S&S, 2023) — Picture Book
Links
"2 Picture Books Celebrate the Poetry and Promise of Black Lives," The New York Times Book Review
In Their Own Words: Poetry Society of America, "Rio Cortez on 'UFO, For Instance'"
