Craig Santos Perez

Craig Santos Perez is a Chamorro poet, essayist, scholar, editor, publisher, and professor from Guam, known for his award-winning poetry exploring themes of Pacific life, immigration, ancestry, colonialism, and diaspora. Born in Mongmong-Toto-Maite, Guam, he moved to California in 1995, earned degrees including an MFA from the University of San Francisco and a PhD from UC Berkeley, and now teaches at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. He co-founded Ala Press in 2011 and has received prestigious awards such as the 2023 National Book Award for Poetry, the 2015 American Book Award, and the 2011 PEN Center USA Literary Award.[1][2][4]