The University of Arizona Press
March 11, 2025
The Academy of American Poets has announced that The Whole Earth Is a Garden of Monsters | Toda la tierra es un jardín de monstruos, written by Manuel Iris (in photo above) and co-translated by Iris and Kevin McHugh, was selected by Giannina Braschi as the winner of the 2025 Ambroggio Prize. The Prize is given annually for a book-length poetry manuscript originally written in Spanish and with an English translation. The winners receive $1,000 and publication by the University of Arizona Press, a nationally recognized publisher of emerging and established voices in Latinx and Indigenous literature. The book will be published by the University of Arizona Press in 2026. Previous winners include Octavio Quintanilla, author and co-translator with Natalia Treviño; Margarita Pintado Burgos, with translator Alejandra Quintana Arocho; and Elizabeth Torres.
Braschi commented on the collection: “The poet pays homage to the migrant who will not be remembered or missed if lost. There is an intriguing parallel between two main characters—Juan Dominguez, migrant of fire, and Hieronymus Bosch, portraitist of fire—whose early lives are marked by the catastrophic fire from which they were born into new names, new ways, new lives.”
Manuel Iris is a Mexican-born American poet based in Ohio. He holds a Ph.D. in Romance Languages from the University of Cincinnati. The former Poet Laureate of Cincinnati, Iris currently serves as Writer-in-Residence for the Hamilton County Public Library; is Writer-in-Residence at Thomas More University; and is a member of Mexico’s National System of Art Creators.
Kevin McHugh is a translator, poet, and editor with over thirty years of experience in writing and teaching. He holds an MA in English from the University of Windsor, specializing in Irish literature. McHugh’s career spans both education and the literary world, having taught writing at the secondary and college levels, while also serving as a fellow of the National (Ohio) Writing Project.
We are thrilled to be publishing this award-winning collection. Congratulations, Manuel!
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About the Academy of American Poets
The Academy of American Poets is the United States’ leading champion of poets and poetry. The organization annually awards more than $1.3 million to poets across the nation. It also operates Poets.org, the world’s largest publicly funded poetry website, and organizes National Poetry Month, the largest literary celebration in the world. Additionally, the Academy publishes Poem-a-Day and American Poets magazine, provides free educational resources for K–12 educators and adult learners, and leads the Poetry Coalition, a network of organizations dedicated to promoting the vital role of poetry in our culture. Visit poets.org for more information.
