Michael Torres was born and brought up in Pomona, California where he spent his adolescence as a graffiti artist. His first, full-length collection of poems, An Incomplete List of Names was selected by Raquel Salas Rivera for the National Poetry Series and will be published by Beacon Press in 2020. His honors include awards and support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, CantoMundo, the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Jerome Foundation, the Camargo Foundation, and the Loft Literary Center. Currently he’s an Assistant Professor in the MFA program at Minnesota State University, Mankato, and a teaching artist with the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop.