Many of you would be aware of the story of Xiomara Batista put forward by slam poet and educator Elizabeth Acevedo in her novel “The Poet X.” However, here we shall see if Acevedo’s novel “The Poet X” is based on a true story or not. The novel is set in Harlem, a town in New York City.
It is a story about a young girl who loved to write, had dreams, and wanted to show the world that she is nothing less than anyone. However, she did not receive the support she needed from her family instead her brother had everything. Her mother was the prime reason for the life she was living.
Of course, such an amazing piece of art cannot go unrecognized, and thus as a result, at the 2019 Youth Media Awards, the book received several awards. Other than this, “The Poet X” was also titled as the New York Times bestseller. So, let us proceed to see if “The Poet X” is real or not.
What Is “The Poet X” About?
The novel “The Poet X” was published on March 6, 2018, and it became Elizabeth Acevedo’s best novel of all time. This story is truly based on young adults and how they deal with things at that age. It is about a girl named Xiomara Batista who is 15 years old and is a resident of New York City.
Xiomara is the daughter of Dominican immigrants and this was shared by Xiomara only with the poet. She is also called by some other names like “X” or “Xio.” Of course, every household has problems and everyone has a different way of dealing with them, and so did Xio.
She also had a lot going on in her family and she expressed that by writing poetry. This helped her and she wanted the world to read her poetry too. However, her mother was only concerned with her getting confirmed and not appreciated. On the other side, her brother Xavier was applauded for all his work.
However, she could not really do anything about it. Further, her school life kept her distracted and she fell in love with Aman who was her lab partner. Not everything went well in her life.
Is The Poet X Based On A True Story?
“The Poet X” is one such novel that made the readers feel connected and inspired by Xiomara Batista. The aspects of this novel are indeed realistic and relatable to many people. However, poet Elizabeth Acevedo made it quite clear this isn’t based on her life or anyone she knew. It is totally fictional.
However, she felt that the topic she chose to connect with people via Xiomara Batista was something really close to her heart. The novel to some extent relies on her personal encounters she has had and putting that into words was something she always wanted to do.
What Made Acevedo Write “The Poet X?”
The poet said that she came from a very strict family where she always gets comments on something or the other and that really impacted her. The memories and the moments were everything that she could recall from that age. She feels that it would be better if she expressed herself that time but eventually couldn’t.
However, she added that neither did she have guts like Xiomara had nor she had such a tyrannical family. On being asked if the story had an aspect connected to her life, the poet replied saying that as a young poet, she has gained a lot of knowledge about slam poetry, and stage performances have contributed to her novel.
Elizabeth also says that Xiomara’s family and her family are opposite poles whether that’s in behavior or the atmosphere of the house. She also added that she also got some help while writing from her high school journal and plagiarizing her own work helped her keep her own essence.
Thus, this was everything we knew about if “The Poet X” was based on a true story or not. Have you read the novel yet? If yes, comment down below about Elizabeth Acevedo’s greatest work of all time.
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