Born in New York City, Roberto Ascalon has lived in Seattle for over 22 years. He is a Kundiman, Jack Straw, and Artist Trust fellow, a two-time Seattle Slam Team member, and the winner of the 2013 Rattle Poetry Prize for the poem “The Fire This Time, or, How Come Some Brown Boys Get Blazed Right Before Class And Other Questions Without Marks” which earned him a Pushcart nomination.

His residencies have led to multimedia exhibitions at the Frye Art Museum, the Seattle Art Museum, and The Museum of History and Industry and earned him a trip to the White House where had the honor of shaking hands with President Obama. He currently teaches with The Greater Seattle Bureau of Fearless Ideas.