Richard Blanco is the fifth poet to read at the US Presidential Inauguration. He is the author of three books of poems: Looking for the Gulf Motel (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2012), Directions to the Beach of the Dead, (University of Arizona Press, 2005), and City of a Hundred Fires (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1998), as well as a memoir, Prince of Los Cocuyos: A Miami Childhood (Ecco Press, 2014). He has taught at Georgetown University, American University, and Central Connecticut State University. He lives in Bethel, Maine.