Gary Soto, born in 1952 and raised in Fresno, California, is the author of thirteen poetry collections for adults, most notably NEW AND SELECTED POEMS, a finalist for both the Los Angeles Times Award and the National Book Award. He has received the Discovery-The Nation Prize and the California Library Association's John and Patricia Beatty Award [twice], in addition to fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts [twice], and the Guggenheim Foundation. For ITVS, he produced the film "The Pool Party," which received the 1993 Andrew Carnegie Medal. In 1995, for his work with young people, he was selected NBC's Person of the Week. In 1999 he was honored with the Human and Civil Rights Award from the American Education Association, the Literature Award from the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, and the PEN Center West Book Award for his young-adult short story collection PETTY CRIMES. In all, his books have sold over four million copies.

Other poems by Gary Soto in Verse Daily:
January 5, 2008:   "The Dime-Store Parakeet" "The bird didn't speak..."
December 18, 2006:   "Salt" " That's it, I think. Everyone I knew turned..."

Books by Gary Soto:

Other poems on the web by Gary Soto:
Seventy-eight poems
Six poems
"The Starlings"

Gary Soto's Website.

Gary Soto on Twitter.