Alberto Álvaro Ríos (born September 18, 1952) is a US academic and writer who is the author of ten books and

chapbook A chapbook is a type of small printed booklet that was a popular medium for street literature throughout early modern Europe. Chapbooks were usually produced cheaply, illustrated with crude woodcuts and printed on a single sheet folded into 8, 1 ...

s of poetry, three collections of short stories, and a memoir. Rios was named Arizona's first state poet laureate in August 2013, a position he continues to hold.

Life

Alberto Ríos graduated from

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

with an MFA. He is a Regents' Professor at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

, where he has taught since 1982 and where he holds the further distinction of the Katharine C. Turner Endowed Chair in English. His book ''A Small Story About the Sky'' was published in 2015 by Copper Canyon Press. Other books of poems include ''The Dangerous Shirt'', along with ''The Theater of Night'', winner of the 2007 PEN/Beyond Margins Award, ''The Smallest Muscle in the Human Body'', finalist for the

National Book Award The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...

, ''Teodoro Luna's Two Kisses'', ''The Lime Orchard Woman'', ''The Warrington Poems'', ''Five Indiscretions'', and ''Whispering to Fool the Wind'', which won the Walt Whitman Award. His three collections of short stories are ''The Curtain of Trees'', ''Pig Cookies'' and ''The Iguana Killer'', which won the first Western States Book Award for Fiction, judged by Robert Penn Warren. His memoir about growing up on the Mexico-Arizona border, called ''Capirotada'', won the Latino Literary Hall of Fame Award and was designated the OneBookArizona choice for 2009. Ríos is the recipient of the Western Literature Association Distinguished Achievement Award, the Arizona Governor's Arts Award, fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Walt Whitman Award, the Western States Book Award for Fiction, six Pushcart Prizes in both poetry and fiction, and inclusion in ''The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry.'' In 2014, he was elected a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. Ríos is also a host for ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication's KAET. He hosted the litereray interview show ''Books & Co.'' from 2009 to 2018. He currently hosts the arts interview show ''Art in the 48''.

Bibliography

Poetry

His books of poems include: * ''A Small Story About the Sky'', Copper Canyon Press, 2015, * * ''The Theater of Night'', Copper Canyon Press, 2006, * nominated for the

, * ''Teodoro Luna's Two Kisses'' W. W. Norton, Incorporated, 1992, * ''The Lime Orchard Woman'' Sheep Meadow Press, 1988, * ''The Warrington Poems'', Pyracantha Press, Arizona State University, School of Art, 1989 * ''Five Indiscretions'' The Sheep Meadow Press, 1985, * ''Whispering to Fool the Wind'', Sheep Meadow Press, 1982, * ''Sleeping on Fists'' (Dooryard Press, 1981) * ''Elk Heads on the Wall''(Mango Publications, 1979) * ''Spring in the Only Place Spring Was''

Short story collections

* ''The Curtain of Trees'' * ''Pig Cookies'' * * ''The Secret Lion''

Non-fiction

* ''Capirotada'', University of New México Press, 1999, , a memoir about growing up on the Mexican border

Honors

* Guggenheim Foundation fellowship *

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

fellowship * Walt Whitman Award * Outstanding Latino/a Cultural Award in Literary Arts or Publications, American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE), 2004 * Western States Book Award for fiction * Pushcart Prize - awarded 6 times for both poetry and fiction * 2005 Historymaker selection by the Arizona History Society's Museum, a Smithsonian affiliate, at Papago Park, Tempe, Arizona * 2007 recipient of the PEN/Beyond Margins Award for ''The Theater of Night''

Notes

References

* Wild, Peter (1998). ''Alberto Ríos''. Boise, Idaho: Boise State University "Western Writers Series" #131. pp. 51.

External links

Alberto Álvaro Ríos
faculty/personal website – Arizona State University {{DEFAULTSORT:Rios, Alberto 1952 births Living people Arizona State University faculty American male poets American short story writers American memoirists University of Arizona alumni People from Nogales, Arizona People from Chandler, Arizona Poets laureate of Arizona Poets from Arizona American male short story writers American male non-fiction writers