Born in Austria of Lithuanian parents, Al Zolynas grew up in Sydney, Australia and Chicago. After earning degrees from the University of Illinois (B.A.) and the University of Utah (M.A. and PhD.), he taught literature and writing at universities in Utah, Minnesota, and California. He is the author of the poetry collections The New Physics, Under Ideal Conditions, The Same Air, Near and Far, and A World Once Known. (Two of his poetry collections were awarded the San Diego Book Award for Best Poetry). He co-edited two poetry anthologies: Men of Our Time and The Poetry of Men's Lives: An International Anthology. Al Zolynas' poems have been translated into Lithuanian, Spanish, Ukrainian, and Polish-the last by Nobel Laureate Czeslaw Milosz. Zolynas has also translated Lithuanian poetry and prose, most recently, the memoir, The Parallels of Dita: Surviving Nazism and Communism in Lithuania, by Silvija Lomsargyt¿-Pukien¿. Now retired from Alliant International University in San Diego, he resides with his wife and their cat in Escondido, California where he teaches Zen meditation.