Yamile Saied Méndez | |
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Born | Rosario, Argentina |
Occupation | Author |
Alma mater | Brigham Young University Vermont College of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) |
Website | |
yamilemendez |
Yamile (pronounced sha-MEE-lay)[1] Saied Méndez is an Argentine American author of picture books, children's books, young adult books, and adult romance.[2][3] She is a Pura Belpré gold medal winner for her young adult novel, Furia.[4] She is a founding member of Las Musas collective.[2][1]
Méndez was born in Rosario, Argentina.[5] Méndez grew up attached to the culture of one grandfather, who was Syrian Lebanese; her mother was an orphan but knew she was a descendant of indigenous people from Argentina.[5] Her father drove a taxi and her mother worked as a nanny.[5] The first among her extended family members to attend college, she went to Brigham Young University where she studied international economics.[5][6] Méndez received an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts.[7] Méndez lives in Utah with her husband and five children.[8]