Early life

• spent four years in Spain, 1970-1974
• moved to USA in 1974
• went to high school in Los Angeles, California
• BA from California State University, Long Beach
• MFA, Louisiana State University (1987), under Vance Bourjaily
• studied under Sir Angus Wilson and Robert Houston for a year at the University of Arizona

Literary work

Marriage and children

• 90 Miles (Selected & New Poems), U of Pittsburgh P, 2005.
• Landscapes & Dreams (poems), Louisiana Literature P, 2003.
• Vespers: Spirituality in America (anthology), U of Iowa P, 2003.
• Guide to the Blue Tongue (poems), U of Illinois, 2002.
• Banyan (poems), Louisiana State U P, 2001.
• Palm Crows (poems), U of Arizona P, 2001.
• American Diaspora (anthology), U of Iowa P, 2001.
• The Cutter (reprint, novel), Ballatine/Available, 1991 and Arte Público Press, 1999.
• In the Republic of Longing (poems), Bilingual Review Press/Arizona State U, 2000.
• You Come Singing (poems), Tia Chucha/Northwestern UP, 1998.
• Garabato Poems (poems), Wings, 1998.
• Spared Angola (poems, essays, stories), Arte Publico Press, 1997.
• Going Under (novel), Arte Público Press, 1996.
• Havana Thursdays (novel), Arte Público Press, 1995.
• Iguana Dreams (anthology), Harper Collins, 1993.
• Welcome to the Oasis (stories) Arte Público Press, 1992.
• Latin Jazz (novel) William Morrow, 1989.

• Best American Poetry, 2004.
• G. MacCarthur Poetry Prize, 2002.
• The Daily News/The Caribbean Writer/University of the Virgin Islands Poetry Prize, 2002.
• National Endowment of the Arts Fellowship, 2001.
• The Book Expo America/Latino Literature Hall of Fame Poetry Prize for Best Book of Poetry (for Banyan), 2001.
• Winner of a Florida State Individual Artist Grant, 1998.
• Winner of New York Public Library's Best Book for the Teenager, 1993.
• Nominated for five Pushcart Prizes.

1. "Virgilio Suárez (1962-)." By: Roberto G. Fernández. IN: West-Durán, Herrera-Sobek and Salgado, Latino and Latina Writers, I: Introductory Essays, Chicano and Chicana Authors; II: Cuban and Cuban American Authors, Dominican and Other Authors, Puerto Rican Authors. New York: Scribner's; 2004. pp. 747—61
2. "Dos novelas cubanoamericanas: Dos inserciones del imaginario Cuba dentro de la realidad estadounidense." By: Humberto López Cruz, Torre de Papel, 2003 Summer-Fall; 13 (2-3): 15-23.
3. "Virgil Suárez and Finnegans Wake (FW)." By: Tatsuo Hamada, Abiko Annual with James Joyce Finnegans Wake Studies, 2001; 21: 179-82.
4. "Virgil Suárez's The Cutter and Going Under: Beat on the Drum or Beaten by the Humdrum?" By: William O. Deaver, Jr. Anales Literarios: Narradores, 2001; 3 (3): 110-17.
5. "Going Under y Raining Backwards: Una lectura de enfrentamiento en el proceso de asimiliación dentro de la sociedad estadounidense." By: Humberto López Cruz, SECOLAS Annals: Journal of the Southeastern Council on Latin American Studies, 1999 Nov; 31: 85-91.
6. "Going Under and Spared Angola: Memories from a Cuban-American Childhood: A Contrapunteo on Cultural Identity." By: Leira Annette Manso, Bilingual Review/La Revista Bilingüe, 1999 Sept-Dec; 24 (3): 295-98.
7. "Humor e hipérbole en Raining Backwards y Going Under." By: Humberto López Cruz, Encuentro de la Cultura Cubana, 1999 Autumn; 14: 163-69.
8. "The Prodigal Son in the Structure of Raining Backwards, Crazy Love, and Latin Jazz." By: William O. Deaver, Jr.; Americas Review: A Review of Hispanic Literature and Art of the USA, 1996 Fall-Winter; 24 (3-4): 179-90.

Interviews

1. "The Work We Leave Behind: An Interview with Virgil Suárez." By: William T. Vandegrift, Jr.; Quarterly West, 2004 Summer; 58: 68-79.
2. "Electric Dialogue: An E-mail Conversation with Virgil Suárez." By: James Mayo, Bilingual Review/La Revista Bilingüe, 2001 Jan-2002 Apr; 26 (1): 56-63.