Author Benjamin Alire Saenz dies at 71

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) - Award winning author, Benjamin Alire Saenz, has died at the age of 71 after a lifetime of contribution to the local creative scene.

Saenz born in Old Pichacho, New Mexico near Las Cruces, now leaves behind a legacy as a local artist through his award winning works of literature and a haven for the next generation of artists as one of the founders of Studio 1929 in 2024.

Saenz's work includes award winning books like Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club which made him the first Latino and Texan to win the PEN Faulkner Award for Fiction in 2013 as well as Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe which won 28 awards at the national, regional, and international level according to the Texas Cultural Trust.

The novel got a film adaptation that debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2022, the same year Saenz received the first Hummingbird Award in Literary Arts.

ABC-7 has reached out to his long-time assistant Daniel Anchondo as well as family members for comment.