City of a Hundred Fires

Richard Blanco (born in Madrid, Spain) is a Cuban-American poet who was the fifth inaugural poet in United States history, reading One Today at President Obama's second inauguration in 2013, and the first Latino, immigrant, and openly gay person to serve in that role. He grew up in Miami and studied engineering and creative writing at Florida International University, where he also received his MFA. His collections include City of a Hundred Fires (Pittsburgh, 1998), winner of the Agnes Lynch Starrett Prize, and How to Love a Country (Beacon Press, 2019). He received the Paterson Poetry Prize and a National Humanities Medal. He teaches at Harvard University's Extension School.