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Writing professor and author Manuel “Blake” Sanz ’99 published an award-winning short story collection earlier this year.

A native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Sanz first applied to Loyola in his search to find a university that would support his academic interests and while also providing the opportunity to play college basketball. “There was a single place that showed interest in me both academically and athletically, and that was Loyola,” says Sanz. “Coach Jerry Hernandez recruited me onto the basketball team around the same time I received word that I had been awarded an Ignatian Scholarship. It was clear then that Loyola was the right choice for me.”

Basketball was a major feature of Sanz’s years at Loyola, with many hours devoted to practice and travel. But in his sophomore and junior years, he became equally passionate about writing. Sanz took every fiction writing workshop the English department offered, and under the tutelage of John Biguenet and Ralph Adamo, decided that he wanted to pursue writing beyond Loyola. He spent a semester studying abroad in Dublin, where he became even more interested in literature and art. After graduating from Loyola with a B.A. in English, Sanz went on to earn a master’s degree in fine arts from the University of Notre Dame.

Sanz then taught writing at LSU in Baton Rouge for five years, and has been on the University of Denver’s English department faculty for the past 15 years. During that time, he has published a number of short stories in various literary magazines. A collection of these stories was published as a book earlier this year by the University of Iowa. Titled The Boundaries of Their Dwelling, Sanz’s book includes 16 short stories that explore the experiences of Mexican immigrants in the U.S. South, mainly in the context of father-son relationships. The key theme throughout the book is the process of finding a place where one is comfortable pursuing their dreams and being themselves.��Named after a passage in Acts 17:26, the book received the prestigious University of Iowa Short Fiction Award for 2021.

The University of Iowa is home to the nation’s oldest and most esteemed creative writing program, and past winners of the Iowa Short Fiction Award have gone on to establish impressive and lengthy literary careers. “It has been so exciting to look back at prior winners, to read their works, to see the doors opened for them as a result of this award, and of course, to imagine what doors might now open for me,” says Sanz.