Cleyvis Natera was born in the Dominican Republic, arrived in New York City at ten years old. She is an award-winning author, essayist, critic, and college professor. Her debut novel, Neruda on the Park, was a New York Times Editor’s Choice and winner of a Silver Medal by the International Latino Book Awards for Best First Book of Fiction. Her sophomore novel, The Grand Paloma Resort, was named a best book of 2025 by ELLE, Electric Literature, and CrimeReads. Her other writing has appeared in the Modern Love column in The New York Times, bon appetit, Kirkus, The New York Times Book Review, TIME, The Washington Post, USA TODAY, Pleiades, The Kenyon Review, Aster(ix) and Kweli Journal, among others. Natera has received awards, fellowships, and artist residencies from the Vermont Studio Center, PEN America, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and Hermitage Artist Retreat, among others. She was the recipient of the prestigious Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference 2024 Toni Morrison Fiction Fellowship. She is currently a Fulbright Specialist. She joined Montclair State University in the fall of 2024 as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Creative Writing where she led efforts to develop an M.F.A. program in Bilingual Creative Writing. She’s currently part of the creative writing faculty at Barnard College and Columbia University’s M.F.A. program. Natera holds an M.F.A. in fiction from New York University and an undergraduate degree from Skidmore College.
More about Cleyvis Natera
From the inspiration that first sparked the idea for Neruda on the Park to its journey to publication, these interviews will provide insight and inspiration.
PEN America, “PEN Ten with Cleyvis Natera”
Forbes, “‘Neruda On The Park’ Author Cleyvis Natera On What We’ll Do To Protect What We Love”
Refinery29, “Neruda on the Park Gets the Story of Gentrification in Latine Neighborhoods Right — Finally”
Literary Hub, “Lit Hub Asks: 5 Authors, 7 Questions, No Wrong Answers: Cleyvis Natera”
The Rumpus, “Reverse Gentrification of the Imagination: A Conversation with Cleyvis Natera” by Stephanie Jimenez
CrimeReads, “Aya de León and Cleyvis Natera on Gentrification, Justice, and Latinx Fiction”
Bartistanet, “Cleyvis Natera’s Neruda on the Park explores Gentrification, Family Connections and Neighborhood Survival”
Dominican Writers Association, “Cleyvis Natera on ‘Neruda on the Park’ and the deliciousness of being Dominican”
Photograph © Beowulf Sheehan