The son of farmworkers, Juan Felipe Herrera lives in Fresno, Calif., with his wife, poet Margarita Robles. During the last 50 years, he has dedicated his life to poetry, community, art and teaching. From 2015–17, he served as poet laureate of the United States and from 2012–14 as poet laureate of California. His various awards include the National Book Critic’s Circle Award, Guggenheim Fellowship, L.A. Times Robert Kirsch Award, Latino Hall of Fame Award, Pushcart Prize, UCLA Chancellor’s Medal and the UC-Riverside Lifetime Award. The Juan Felipe Herrera Elementary School is scheduled to open in Fresno this summer. 

With over 30 books in various genres, Juan Felipe’s most recent work is Eve-ry Day We Get More Illegal (City Lights Publishers). He is a graduate of UCLA, Stanford, and the University of Iowa Writer’s Workshop. His poem “Sunriders” was among those placed on a plaque aboard NASA’s Lucy probe, launched in October to explore asteroids across the solar system.