Richard Garcia

Richard Garcia was born in San Francisco in 1941 and began writing in his teens. After publishing his chap book, Selected Poems, in 1972, he stopped writing for a number of years until an encouraging letter from Octavio Paz convinced him to return to writing. In 1978 he published a bilingual book for children, My Aunt Otilia's Spirits, and University of Pittsburgh Press published The Flying Garcias in 1991. He earned the MFA degree in creative writing from Warren Wilson College Writers’ Program in 1994, during which time his first collection, The Flying Garcias, was published by University of Pittsburgh. His third volume of poetry with BOA Editions, The Chair, was chosen by Poetry Magazine editor Don Share as the best book of 2015. The Other Odyssey won the 2012 American Poetry Journal Book Prize, and his seventh volume, Porridge, was chosen by Tom Lombardo for the 2016 Press 53 Prize..

Richard’s publication credits include Ploughshares, The Georgia Review, and the Colorado Review, and among his distinctions are the Pushcart Prize, Best American Poetry, the Georgia Poetry Circuit, and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. For twelve years he was Poet-in-residence at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, where he conducted workshops in art and poetry for young inpatients. Richard teaches creative writing in the Antioch University Los Angeles MFA program, as well as privately throughout the United States. He makes his home on James Island, South Carolina with his wife, Katherine Williams, and their dog Max.