Ricardo Alberto Maldonado was born and raised in Puerto Rico. A graduate of Tufts and Columbia University’s School of the Arts, he is the author of The Life Assignment (Four Way Books, 2020), a finalist for the Poetry Society of America’s Norma Farber First Book Award, one of Remezcla’s Best Books by Latina or Latin American Authors, and Silver Medalist for the Juan Felipe Herrera Best Poetry Book Award. He is also the translator of Dinapiera Di Donato’s Colaterales/ Collateral (National Poetry Series / Akashic Books, 2013) and coeditor of Puerto Rico en mi corazón (Anomalous Press, 2019), a bilingual anthology that raised funds for grassroots recovery efforts in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.

Ricardo is the Academy of American Poets’ President and Executive Director. Previously, he served as the codirector of 92NY’s Unterberg Poetry Center in New York City, where he produced one of the nation’s most prestigious reading series, as well as a curriculum of literary seminars and workshops for readers and writers of all ages. This artist's residency was curated as part of The Betsy's Escribe Aqui, by Miami Dade Poet Laureate, Caridad Moro-Gronlier.