Garrett Hongo was born in Volcano, Hawai’i and grew up on the North Shore of O’ahu and in Los Angeles. He was educated at Ponoma College, the University of Michigan, and UC Irvine, where he received an M.F.A. His works includes three books of poetry, three anthologies, and Volcano: A Memoir of Hawai’i. He is the editor of The Open Boat: Poems from Asian America ( Anchor) and Under Western Eyes: Personal Essays from Asian America ( Anchor). Poems and Essays of his have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Ploughshares, Kenyon Review, Georgia Review, APR, Honolulu Weekly, Amerasia Journal, Virginia Quarterly Review, Raritan, and the LA Times. Among his honors are the Guggenheim Fellowship, two NEA grants, and the Lamont Poetry Prize from the Academy of American Poets. His latest book of poetry, Coral Road, was published by Knopf in Fall 2011. He is presently completing a book of non-fiction entitled The Perfect Sound: An Autobiography in Stereo. He teaches at the University of Oregon, where he is Distinguished Professor of Arts and Sciences.