Juan Carlos Mestre was born in 1957 in Villafranca del Bierzo in the province of Leon in Castilla y Leon, Spain. He is a poet, essayist, and graphic artist. He has published twenty-five books of poems. Five of his collections have won major Spanish prizes: "Antífona del otoño en el Valle del Bierzo," the 1985 Premio Adonáis; "La poesía ha caído en desgracia," the 1992 Premio Jaime Gil de Biedma; "La tumba de Keats," the 1999 Premio Jaén de poesía; "La casa roja," the 2009 Premio Nacional de poesía; and "La bicicleta del panadero," the 2012 Premio de la Crítica de poesía castellana.