Alberto Ríos is the author of ten books and chapbooks of poetry, three collections of short stories, and a memoir. In August 2013, Rios was named Arizona’s first state poet laureate. His books of poems include, most recently, The Dangerous Shirt, preceded by The Theater of Night, winner of the 2007 PEN/Beyond Margins Award, along with The Smallest Muscle in the Human Body, a finalist for the National Book Award. His three collections of short stories are, most recently, The Curtain of Trees, along with Pig Cookies, and The Iguana Killer. Ríos is a Regents’ Professor at Arizona State University, where he has taught for over 30 years and where he holds the further distinction of Katharine C. Turner Endowed Chair in English.