Alvaro Leiva, Ph.D. was born in Santiago, Chile in 1967. He is a poet, professor, and photographer. He has published five poetry books: Bienvenido a bordo (Santiago, 1990), Exit only (Buenos Aires, 2001), Roquerío 68 (Santiago, 2008), Ciudad Tropelía (Santiago, 2009), and Iwana. Collected Poems (Hawaii, 2014). His poems have appeared in a number of magazines and anthologies in Argentina, Chile, Spain, United States, and Venezuela. He teaches Spanish at Grand Valley State University and lives in Grand Rapids.