Brandon Dean Lamson teaches creative writing and literature at the University of texas at austin. His first book, Starship Tahiti, won the Juniper Prize for Poetry and was published by the University of Massachusetts Press. Beginning on Rikers Island, the book traces a creation myth in reverse, moving from prison to the spacious arches of Grand Central Station and finally to the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. Themes of violence, race, and identity are explored in various real and imagined settings where inmates read Antigone, Howlin’ Wolf sings in a black barbershop, and Metallica records burn on a Viking altar. He is also the author of a chapbook entitled Houston Gothic (LaMunde Press, 2007) and his recent work has appeared in Poetry Daily, Poetry Northwest, Third Coast, and Buddhadharma Quarterly. An avid yogi and Zen Buddhist Practitioner, he teaches meditation and leads workshops in yoga and the creative arts . Currently, he is finishing a second book of poems titled Mountains Walking that explores ecological crises in Western Appalachia and his memoir caged: teaching on rikers island is forthcoming from fordham university press.