Ricardo M. de Ungria has published eight books of poetry and edited a number of anthologies, for which he has won seven National Book Awards. On a Fulbright Grant, he received his MFA in Creative Writing from Washington University in St. Louis. He is a founding member of the Philippine Literary Arts Council (1981) and the Davao Writers Guild (1999). He has served as Chancellor of the University of the Philippines in Mindanao (2001–07) and Commissioner for the Arts at the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (2009–11) and now teaches at the UP Mindanao in Davao.