Born in New Mexico of Indio-Mexican descent, Jimmy Santiago Baca was raised
first by his grandmother and later sent to an orphanage. A runaway at age 13, it
was after Baca was sentenced to five years in a maximum security prison that
he began to turn his life around: he learned to read and write and unearthed a
voracious passion for poetry. He is the winner of the Pushcart Prize, the
American Book Award, the International Hispanic Heritage Award and for his
memoir A Place to Stand the prestigious International Award.
