V. Lázaro Zamora was born in Chicago, Illinois to parents from Cuba and Mexico. He is a first generation American and grew up speaking Spanish. His mother’s family fled Cuba in 1968, to escape communism, and his father came to the United States from San Luis Potosí, Mexico in search of better opportunities. In 1989, he joined the Army and after he left the Army, he went to a community college and got an Associates Degree. It took a while because he was working full time, but he later earned a BA in English and History from Northeastern Illinois University. Once he moved to Los Angeles, he was inspired by his wife’s struggle to earn her doctorate in Psychology and decided to go to graduate school. He received a fellowship to the UC Riverside MFA program which made graduate school possible for him.

 

Today, V. Lázaro Zamora is an author whose works have been published by different publishers. He has been writing since High School and recalls writing “flash fiction” pieces for his school newspaper. When he was in the military he even wrote comic strips for his buddies and says he always finds himself writing. Even when he was stuck at boring desk jobs, he would take the time to write.