Maceo Montoya grew up in Elmira, California. Hegraduated from Yale University in 2002 and received his Master of Fine Arts in painting from Columbia University in 2006. His paintings, drawings, and prints have been featured in exhibitions and publications throughout the country as well as internationally. Montoya’s first novel, The Scoundrel and the Optimist (Bilingual Review, 2010), was awarded the 2011 International Latino Book Award for “Best First Book” and Latino Stories named him one of its “Top Ten New Latino Writers to Watch.” Recently, University of New Mexico Press published his second novel, The Deportation of Wopper Barraza, and this coming May, Copilot Press will publish Letters to the Poet from his Brother, a hybrid book combining images, prose poems, and essays.
Montoya is an assistant professor in the Chicana/o Studies Department at UC Davis where he teaches the Chicana/o Mural Workshop and courses in Chicano Literature. He is also affiliated with Taller Arte del Nuevo Amanecer (TANA), a community-based arts organization located in Woodland, CA. For more information about his artwork and books please visit www.maceomontoya.com
