Carlos Aguasaco was born in 1975 in Bogota, Colombia, and is considered one of the most influential voices of the new Hispanic poetry in the United States. He is a professor of Latin American Cultural Studies and Chair of the Department of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences at the City College of the City University of New York (CUNY). Aguasco has edited eleven literary anthologies and authored seven poetry collections, including The New York City Subway (Ashland Poetry Press, 2020), recipient of the 2021 Juan Felipe Herrera Award for the best bilingual book of poetry granted by ILBA. The Academy of American Poets awarded him the 2021 Ambroggio Prize for his latest book Cardenal en mi ventana con una máscara en el pico (Cardinal in My Window with a Mask on Its Beak) translated by Jennifer Rathbun (Arizona University Press, 2022). He has also published a short novel, an academic study of Latin American superhero El Chapulín Colorado, and is the editor of Transatlantic Gazes: Studies on the Historical Links between Spain and North America (IF-UAH, 2018). Aguasco is the founder and director of Artepoetica Press, director of The Americas Poetry Festival of New York, and coordinator of The Americas Film Festival of New York.