Sandra Benitez

Sandra Benitez (born March 26, 1941, in Washington, D.C.) is an American novelist.

Life
Sandra Benitez was born in Washington, D.C., and spent ten years of her childhood in El Salvador while her father was based there as a diplomat. She attended high school in Missouri from age 14 and subsequently graduated with a B.S. (1962) and M.A. (1974) from Northeast Missouri State University.

In 1997 she was selected as the University of Minnesota Edelstein-Keller Distinguished Writer in Residence. In 1998 she did the Writers Community Residency for the YMCA National Writer’s Voice program. In the spring of 2001 she held the Knapp Chair in Humanities as Associate Professor of Creative Writing at the University of San Diego.

Awards

 * 2004 Hispanic Heritage Award for Literature.
 * 2006 United States Artists Gund Fellow
 * 1998 American Book Award, for Bitter Grounds