Victor di Suvero
Victor di Suvero has been an outspoken literacy, literature and poetry activist since he first began studying and memorizing Dante at the age of ten. He has participated in bringing poetry and literature to the people for nearly 80 years.
Victor di Suvero
Santa Fe
2019 Recipient, Individual Artist
Victor di Suvero has been an outspoken literacy, literature and poetry activist since he first began studying and memorizing Dante at the age of ten. He has participated in bringing poetry and literature to the people for nearly 80 years in his role as poet, publisher and community organizer. His more recent poetry books include Harvest Time (2001), Spring Again (2005), Moving On (2007), A Gathering (2010), Considering (2012), Still Here (2014), and Once Again (2016). Spring Again was awarded the Independent Publishers Association Bronze Medal in 2007. He has edited several anthologies including ¡Saludos!, the first bilingual collection of the poetry of New Mexico, and We Came to Santa Fe (2009), which was awarded a 2009 Southwest Book Design and Production Award by the New Mexico Book Association. Through his publishing company, Pennywhistle Press, which he established with his wife, di Suvero has consistently published the work of many unknown New Mexico writers from small communities whose talents would have gone unnoticed without his support. Those writers include the likes of Joan Logghe, Renée Gregorio, John Brandi, Judyth Hill, and Luci Tapahanso, all now well-known New Mexico writers. di Suvero was a key force in founding several important and long-standing literary organizations and programs in New Mexico including the Poetry in the Schools program, New Mexico Book Association, PEN New Mexico, New Mexico Literary Arts (formerly The Poetry Center of New Mexico), and the Live Poets Society. As the Director of the National Poetry Association he assisted in establishing National Poetry Week, which has now grown into National Poetry Month and celebrated across the country.