Luis J. Rodriguez has published fifteen books of poetry, children's literature, fiction, and nonfiction. He is best known for his 1993 memoir of gang life, Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A. His awards include a Finalist for the 2011 National Book Critics Circle Award, a Lila Wallace Readers Digest Writers Award, a PEN Josephine Miles Literary Award, a Paterson Poetry Prize, a Carl Sandburg Literary Award, and fellowships from the Sundance Institute, the Lannan Foundation, the City of Los Angeles, the City of Chicago, the California Arts Council, and the Illinois Arts Council, among others. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti in 2014 chose Luis J. Rodriguez as Poet Laureate of the city. Luis is also Scholar in Residence at California State University, Northridge.

1991 PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Award for Literary Excellence  “This poetry is of the barrio yet stubbornly refuses to be confined in it—Rodríguez's perceptive gaze and storyteller's gift transport his world across neighborhood boundaries.”—Publisher’s Weekly|“What makes Luis Rodríguez’s poetry attractive is not its raw honesty but rather the lyrical beauty that suddenly emerges at unpredictable moments. There are lines that bloom like the flowers he is always making reference to.”—The American Poetry Review|"The poetry is of the barrio yet stubbornly refuses to be confined in it—Rodriguez's perceptive gaze and storyteller's gift transport his world across neighborhood boundaries." —Publisher's Weekly

• I. Prelude to a HeartbeatWatts BleedsThe Coldest DayDeathwatchTía ChuchaSpeaking with HandsNight DancingSoundtracksII. Dancing on a GraveDancing on a GraveThe VillageChotaWrithing SkeletonsThe Conrete RiverThe Best of UsThe ThresholdThe Twenty-NinthThe Rooster Who Thought It Was a DogIII. Always RunningAlways RunningColumbian StarWaiting Black MexicanThe Bull's Eye InnDon't Read that Poem!Jarocho BluesLipsIV. Music of the MillMusic of the MillJesús SavesThe Blast FurnaceCarrying My ToolsHeavy Tells a StoryFirst Day of WorkThey Come to DanceBethlehem No MoreV. A Harvest of EyesA Harvest of EyesThe Quest for FlightThe News You Don't Get at HomeCity of AngelsMean StreetsEvery RoadChained TimeDon't Go Gentle Into that Good ExpresswayEvery Breath, a PrayerThis Tree, this PoemThen Comes a DayVI. Glossary of Spanish/Caló Terms