Alberto Rios is the author of five books of poetry, three collections of short stories, and a memoir about growing up on the Mexican border. His poetry has been set to music in a cantata by James DeMars called "Toto's Say," and on an EMI release, Away from Home. He was also featured in the documentary Birthwrite: Growing Up Hispanic. His work has been included in more than 175 national and international literary anthologies, including the Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry. He holds numerous awards, including the Arizona Governor's Arts Award, fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Walt Whitman Award from the Academy of American Poets, and the Western States Book Award. Rios was a 2002 National Book Award Finalist for his volume of poetry, The Smallest Muscle in the Human Body. Since 1994 he has been Regents Professor of English at Arizona State University, where he has taught since 1982. He lives in Chandler, Arizona.