Juan Carlos Galeano was born in the Amazon region of Colombia. He is the author of Baraja inicial (1986), Pollen and Rifles (1997), a book on the poetry of violence, and Amazonia, which is forthcoming in Colombia. He has also translated anthologies of poems by Charles Simic, El pollo sin cabeza, and by Sharon Olds, Los muertos y los vivos. He teaches Latin American poetry at Florida State University.