Rigoberto González is the author of seventeen books of poetry and prose. His awards include the PEN/Voelcker Award in Poetry, the Lenore Marshall Prize from the Academy of American Poets, the Shelley Memorial Prize from the Poetry Society of America, a Lambda Literary Award, The Poetry Center Book Award, and Lannan, Guggenheim, NEA, NYFA, and USA Rolón fellowships. He is currently Distinguished Professor of English and Director of the MFA program in Creative Writing at Rutgers-Newark, the State University of New Jersey.