About Juan Pablo Luzuriaga Abad

---

 Juan Pablo Luzuriaga was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and immigrated to the United States at sixteen. He spent nearly eleven years undocumented while navigating a lengthy U.S. immigration process before becoming a United States citizen. Luzuriaga studied neuroscience at Rutgers University and literature at the University of California, Merced. He teaches poetry in prisons (currently California Men's Colony) through the William James Association and at Cuesta College on California's Central Coast. He is also a fellow of the South Coast Writing Project through the National Writing Project.

Luzuriaga is the winner of the 2026 Blue Light Book Award. He has been a featured reader and panelist at UC Merced, the Cuesta College Central Coast Writers' Conference, the San Francisco Writers Conference, and MoSt Festival, among other literary gatherings. His work has appeared in journals and anthologies including Acentos Review, San Diego Poetry Annual, Monterey Poetry Review, Poetry Breakfast, Cholla Needles as well as in collections from Bombshelter Press, Casablanca Press, Wyld Syde Press, Blue Light Press, and Ohuaya Collective, among others. His poetry has been featured on KCBX Public Radio.

Luzuriaga lives on California's Central Coast and enjoys hiking with his sister, María Belén Luzuriaga, and his dog, Moksha. He is passionate about fostering a strong sense of community through his writing, work, art, and local engagement.