Richard Collins was born in Oregon and grew up in Southern California, earning degrees from the University of Oregon and the University of California, Irvine. He has taught at universities in the U.S., Wales, Romania, and Bulgaria, and is Dean Emeritus of Arts and Humanities at California State University, Bakersfield. His critical essays cover a range of authors from Wilkie Collins and Ronald Firbank to Yannis Ritsos and Lafcadio Hearn, James Merrill and Andrei Codrescu. His poetry and creative nonfiction appear in dozens of literary magazines. His books include translations from the French, as well as John Fante: A Literary Portrait (Guernica Editions) and No Fear Zen: Discovering Balance in an Unbalanced World (Hohm Press). An ordained Zen monk, he is abbot of the New Orleans Zen Temple and Stone Nest Dojo in Sewanee, Tennessee, where he lives with his wife and two dogs.
