José Edgardo Cruz Figueroa was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He has a masters in Latin American Studies with a concentration in literature from Queens College, CUNY and a Phd in political science from the Graduate Center, CUNY. He is a professor at the University at Albany-SUNY. His creative work has been published in the journals Confluencia, Sargasso, 80grados, Cruce, El Sol Latino, Siglo22, Trasdemar, and the Latin American Literary Review.